Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Andrii Troshev, a former lieutenant of the leader of the “Wagner” Communist Party Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash. The Russian leader asked Sedoy to train volunteers to fight in Ukraine, AFP and Reuters reported on Friday.

“At the last meeting, we talked about the fact that you will be involved in the formation of volunteer units capable of performing various combat tasks, mainly, of course, in the area of ​​the special military operation” in Ukraine, Putin said at a meeting on Thursday. with Andrii Troshev, according to the Kremlin’s statement released on Friday.

“Sedoi” (Russian), a former colonel who was very close to Prigozhin in “Wagner”, is considered one of the founders of the group against which European sanctions have been imposed for “direct participation in the group’s military operations in Syria.” “, says the EU document from the end of 2021.

“You know the tasks that must be solved in advance so that combat operations are carried out optimally and with maximum success,” Putin said.

He also welcomed the fact that Trosev “maintains good relations with former comrades in arms.”

Thursday’s meeting, which was attended by Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, once again testifies to the integration of Wagner’s former fighters into the Russian army.

Kremlin press secretary Dmytro Peskov told RIA Novosti immediately after the meeting that Andriy Troshev “already works in the Ministry of Defense.”

At the end of June, after the failed uprising of the paramilitary group, the Kremlin gave its fighters three options – integrate into the Russian army, become civilians again or leave for Belarus.

However, the death of Prigozhin, along with several leaders of the group, in a plane crash at the end of August marked the end of Wagner, as he was known until then, AFP notes.

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