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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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Social media accounts affiliated with Wagner have already been circulating recruitment information for this new unit.<\/p>\n
Rosgvardia troops are tasked by the Kremlin with upholding internal security and law enforcement in Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong> Panicked Putin ousts top Russian chief as he closes inner circle<\/strong><\/p>\n The National Guard of Russia constitutes a substantial force, boasting some 340,000 active personnel across a range of units.<\/p>\n There have been reports of some Russian National Guard members facing charges for refusing to participate in the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n 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,<\/p>\n They added: “Putin’s public embrace of Troshev and subordinating Wagner elements to the Russian MoD [is] noteworthy.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n
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