Putin meets former Wagner commander Troshev

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with one of the Wagner group’s highest-ranking former commanders on Friday and discussed the use of volunteer forces to fight in Ukraine, although the Kremlin said the mercenary now worked for the defence ministry.

Putin meets former Wagner commander: “After a botched revolt by Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in an August plane crash, the Kremlin attempted to demonstrate its control over the mercenary force through the meeting.”

Putin gave the mercenaries the option to continue fighting just days after the Wagner’s mutiny, but he suggested that commander Andrei Troshev succeed Prigozhin, according to the Russian Kommersant daily.

According to the Kremlin, Putin met with Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the deputy defence minister who sat closest to Putin, and Troshev, also known as “Sedoi” or “grey hair,” on Thursday night.

Putin added that he addressed Troshev while discussing the topic of “volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks, especially, of course, in the zone of a special military operation.”

“You yourself have been fighting in such a unit for more than a year,” remarked Putin. “You have knowledge of what it entails, how to execute it, and the issues that must be address beforehand to ensure the effective and successful execution of combat operations.”

Additionally, Putin stated that he wanted to discuss the societal support for those who were fighting.

“Profile of Dmitry Troshev: A Highly Decorated Veteran and Putin’s Hometown Connection”

According to Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Kremlin, the defense ministry currently employs Troshev. “The defense ministry employs him now,” Peskov stated.

Troshev, a highly decorated veteran of Russia’s conflicts in Afghanistan and Chechnya, is from Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg and has appeared in photos with him.

He participated in the decade-long Soviet war in Afghanistan.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, he served in the Russian army’s SOBR, which is a rapid response special forces unit of the Russian interior ministry, while it was station in the North Caucasus. He was the unit’s commander.

Troshev received two Order of the Red Star awards in recognition of his service in Afghanistan. He received the nation’s highest honour, the Hero of Russia medal, in 2016 for his role in the assault on Palmyra, Syria, against terrorists of the Islamic State.