The son of former Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin is reportedly seeking a pact with the Russian National Guard to begin recruiting fighters for a return to Ukraine.
Pavel Prigozhin, 25, has emerged as the leader of the mercenary group following his father’s death in a plane crash in August this year – exactly two months after the group launched a short lived coup in Russia.
Under the terms of the merger between the Russian National Guard – Rosgvardia – and Wagner, the mercenary group will reportedly be allowed to keep the same emblems and symbols.
Social media accounts affiliated with Wagner have already been circulating recruitment information for this new unit.
Rosgvardia troops are tasked by the Kremlin with upholding internal security and law enforcement in Russia.
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The National Guard of Russia constitutes a substantial force, boasting some 340,000 active personnel across a range of units.
There have been reports of some Russian National Guard members facing charges for refusing to participate in the war in Ukraine.
Prigozhin senior, Wagner’s CEO at the time, died alongside a number of the mercenary group’s top military commanders when the private jet crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver region of Russia back in August this year.
The crash is officially the subject of a state investigation though many suspect the Kremlin is to blame given the timing of the incident, months after Prigozhin headed an abortive ‘March on Moscow’ before making a last-minute deal to end the mutiny.
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A US think tank has noted that the actions of Pavel Prigozhin suggest a faction within Wagner is open to backing an alternative to Troshev despite the latter appearing to enjoy backing from the Russian Ministry of Defence.
The Institute for the Study of War said: “Some Wagner personnel are interested in rallying around a Prigozhin-linked alternative to the Kremlin and MoD-aligned Troshev. “It is unclear what the Kremlin thinks the relationship[s] between Wagner elements and the Russian government are,
They added: “Putin’s public embrace of Troshev and subordinating Wagner elements to the Russian MoD [is] noteworthy.
“The MoD would have to provide the equipment and supplies for a large, reconstituted force under Rosgvardia in any case, since Rosgvardia does not have the logistical infrastructure to do so on its own.”
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