Sheet new York Times Comments Wagner has been in even more turmoil since the death of company boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash.
Russia would hardly want to squander the well-trained fighting force and business interests that Prigozhin has developed since Wagner was founded in 2014. The company operates in at least 10 countries.
However, finding a way to neutralize an armed organization that poses one of the greatest threats to the Kremlin while maintaining its combat power and global alignment is a difficult task.
Portraits of Mr Yevgeny Prigozhin (left) and Commander Dmitry Utkin at a memorial site in Nizhny Novgorod – Russia on August 27. Photo: Reuters
Alexander Borodai, a Russian lawmaker, said in a phone interview that Wagner members would continue to fight and have joined volunteer formations as well as official units of the Russian Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin’s next plans for Wagner are unknown. During a meeting in the Kremlin after the mutiny in late June, Putin told Wagner’s commanders that they could continue to work together under “a different leadership”.
In a later interview, Putin also stated that Wagner “does not exist because Russian law does not allow private military companies to operate”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made similar remarks, intended to indicate that Wagner currently has no future in Russia.
Katarina Doxsey, an associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, anticipates that the model Mr. Prigozhin developed – using an underground organization to advance international and business interests – will continue in some form in Russia.
Putin could also ensure that any further activity by similar organizations avoids the kind of animosity towards the Russian military leadership that Prigozhin has fostered.
