RECRUITING: Many Wagner soldiers are now being recruited for Redut. Here they are photographed in the city of Rostov-on-Don, during the uprising in Russia on 24 June. Photo: STRINGER / Reuters / NTB
The mercenary organization Redut takes over Wagner’s duties, but one thing separates them: This time, Putin wants full control.
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Redut is the private military company that is considered Wagner’s main heir after the deaths of Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin. The difference between Wagner and Redut is that the latter will be more under the control of the Russian defense leadership, says Research Manager Tor Bukkvoll at the Defense Research Institute (FFI) Through increased control, the Kremlin avoids the organizations becoming a threat to the regime. Redut has already participated in battles in Ukraine Show more
After the sudden deaths of front figures Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, the private military company Wagner as we knew it no longer exists.
Instead, the Russian Ministry of Defense has set up its own private military company, which recruits mercenaries from the Wagner group under the guise of being “volunteers”, discs British intelligence.
The name is Redut, confirms chief researcher Tor Bukkvoll at the Norwegian Defense Research Institute (FFI).
– Redut is the most important heir after Wagner. When the Wagner RebellionWagner RebellionIn June, the now-deceased Prigoszjin ordered his soldiers to move towards Moscow – allegedly to push for more military support for his crews in Ukraine. was over and the Kremlin began to dismantle Wagner, representatives of official Russia traveled to the countries in Africa with which agreements had been made, and said that the cooperation would continue, but under a new name, Bukkvoll explains to VG.
This has been confirmed by reports from investigative journalists, among others Guardian. The latter uncovered, after Prigozhin’s revolt, the following post on the Russian social platform Vkontakte:
“Wagner belongs to the past. If you are really interested in proper work in Africa, the Ministry of Defense and Redut are your right choice!”.
FOUNDER: The former intelligence agent Gennady Timchenko is said to have founded Redut already in 2008. Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV / Reuters / NTB
The big difference
The former KGB agent and Putin acquaintance Gennady Timchenko is the man behind Redut, according to the report Telegraph. He is said to have founded Redut already in 2008, but until now the group has been a kind of challenger to Wagner.
According to British intelligence, it is “highly likely” that Redut already has over 7,000 soldiers. They were among the first to enter Ukraine when the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, writes Medusa.
What is now happening is that the operational pattern of Wagner and Redut will be quite similar. But on one, very central point, they are different, says researcher Bukkvoll.
– The biggest difference is that they will be more under the control of the defense leadership in Russia. In this way, the Kremlin prevents the organization from becoming a threat to the regime, and they can avoid another rebellion. Another difference will probably be that Putin can no longer deny that the organization exists, says Bukkvoll to VG.
NEED: Russian President Vladimir Putin needs all the soldiers he can get. Photo: SPUTNIK / Reuters / NTB
Despite Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion, the mercenary company Wagner is too valuable to the Russian authorities to kill the organization. Putin has admitted that in the last year he gave Wagner almost a billion dollars in support.
– The Kremlin will take over the organization that existed, instead of destroying it. Since many in the Wagner Group bear a grudge against the Kremlin after poor care in Ukraine and the way their boss was treated by Putin, one thinks that it is good to spend some time on this takeover, believes Bukkvoll.
ICON: Wagner’s distinctive leadership meant a lot to the mercenary group’s members, and his death was taken seriously. Photo: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP / NTB
Already in Ukraine
There are many potential recruits. In January estimated The Ministry of Defense in Great Britain that the Wagner Group had as many as 50,000 soldiers in Ukraine.
It will be the intelligence branch GRUGRUGRU stands for Glavnoje Rasvedyvatelnoje Upravlenije in Russian, and was established in the Soviet era as a main board for the intelligence service. which is behind the financing of Redut, and monitors the group’s activities.
Redut has already participated in battles in Ukraine, in the Donetsk region, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Luhansk, the British write.
The primary function of Redut is to recruit more people for the war, both in Ukraine and elsewhere, says Bukkvoll. Because Russia has not made the progress in Ukraine that Putin had wanted.
– It is a realistic possibility that the Russian Ministry of Defense’s practice of recruiting through “volunteer” units has contributed to Russia releasing more of the unpopular mobilization, writes British intelligence.
FOLLOWING RUSSIA: Chief researcher at the Defense Research Institute, Tor Bukkvoll, has seen that the military group Redut is being built up. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB
War “in the stampede”
The need for extra soldiers who can fight on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine is now great.
Admittedly, Ukraine’s counter-offensive has not succeeded in achieving the objectives they set themselves, but they have nevertheless managed to deprive the Russians of a significant number of soldiers and a lot of equipment, says defense researcher Bukkvoll.
– Russia has so far decided not to mobilize a new round, so the country needs the soldiers it can get.
In Ukraine, the war is now characterized by rain and mud, which complicates the operation and imposes limitations on both parties.
– The war is at a standstill. Soldiers still die and both sides advance a little, but it is often no more than 100 meters a day, so it goes very slowly. This may change over the winter, but depends on how much strength is left on both sides, says the researcher.
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Published: 22.11.23 at 23:39
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2023-11-22 22:39:55
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