Putin meets Former Wagner Commander Andrei Troshev

Russian President Vladimir Putin has met one of the most senior ex-commanders of the Wagner mercenary group, who the Kremlin says now works for the defence ministry.

Andrei Troshev is a former aide of late Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash in August.

His death came two months after Wagner’s troops briefly marched on Moscow.

President Putin asked Mr Troshev to oversee volunteer fighter units in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

READ ALSO: Sweden PM Summons Army Chief Amid Surge In Killings

Addressing Mr. Troshev, the president said he could “volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks, above all, of course, in the zone of a special military operation”, in reference to Ukraine.

“You know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way,” Mr Putin added.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA news agency that Mr. Troshev “now works in the defence ministry”.

The meeting comes as Mr. Putin attempts to reassert his authority following Wagner’s mutiny in June.

In the space of just 24 hours, Prigozhin staged an insurrection, sending troops into the southern city of Rostov, then further on towards Moscow, before retreating. It was the biggest challenge to Mr. Putin’s authority in two decades.

The president last month called on all employees of Wagner and other Russian private military contractors to take an oath of allegiance to the Russian state.