Wagner no longer significant in Ukraine, says US

The US says the Wagner mercenary group is no longer “participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine”. 

The spokesperson’s announcement comes just weeks after the Wagner group staged a 24-hour mutiny in Russia. It was the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority since the invasion of Ukraine began. 

Wagner has fought in some of Russia’s bloodiest recent battles and is thought to have helped the country in annexing Crimea in 2014. 

Following the 24-hour rebellion in June, Wagner fighters were told they could join the regular Russian army or head to Belarus with their chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin. 

Speaking to Russian daily Kommersant on Thursday, Putin said he met with Prigozhin in Moscow only days after the mutiny. 

He said the fighters could have chosen to “continue their service” for the Russian regular military.

“They would have been led by the person who had been their real commander all that time,” he continued, in an apparent reference to himself.

He also stressed there was no legal framework for private military organisations. Putting it bluntly, he said: “Wagner does not exist.”