The son of former Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is set to take over command of the paramilitary group, documents on social media suggest.
The Institute of Study of War (ISW) in Washington said on Monday that Pavel Prigozhin, 25, is taking “command” and will lead Wagner in Ukraine.
Citing a well-known Telegram channel associated with the Wagner Group, the report said Pavel has entered negotiations with the Russian National Guard known as Rosgvardia to allow the group to rejoin combat operations in Ukraine.
The report comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to appoint a commander to head the group in Ukraine. The president has publicly extended his support to Andrey Troshev, a former Wagner commander now serving in the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The former Wagner chief died in a plane crash northwest of Moscow in August.
He staged a short-lived mutiny against Moscow in June. After the aborted mutiny, Putin said Wagner would be dismantled in Russia and that its fighters could sign contracts with the defense ministry, leave for Belarus or go home.
When Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February, 2022, the paramilitary group was pivotal.
The main combat elements of the group are now split across several countries, including Belarus, the Central African Republic, Libya, and Mali.
The ISW said in its assessment, “The status of the Wagner Group remains unclear amid reported negotiations about the Wagner Group’s future cooperation with the Russian government.”
