Explainer: Is Russia's Wagner back?

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin was on Friday shown meeting one of the most senior former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group, Mr Andrei Troshev, and discussing how best to use "volunteer units" in the Ukraine war.

Is Wagner Group back, who controls it and are its fighters returning to the Ukraine war?

What is Wagner?

Wagner Group, one of the world's most battle-hardened mercenary groups, was founded in 2014 by Mr Yevgeny Prigozhin and Mr Dmitry Utkin, a former special forces officer in Russia's GRU military intelligence.

Cast as a private army, Wagner

enabled Russia to dabble in wars in countries

including Syria, Libya and Mali with deniability. Opponents such as the United States cast Wagner as a brutal crime group which plundered African states and meted out sledgehammer deaths to those who challenged it.

Wagner also fought in Ukraine and

took the city of Bakhmut in May

after the bloodiest battle of the war. After the fall of Bakhmut, Wagner fighters were withdrawn from the frontline.

At its peak, Wagner had tens of thousands of men – at least 50,000 convicts were offered their freedom if they survived the battles in Ukraine – and tens of thousands of Russian volunteers, including many former special forces troops.

Salaries were high and Mr Prigozhin said the command structure was responsible and lacked the bureaucracy of the Russian army.

But Mr Prigozhin, angered by what he said was the stupidity and incompetence of Russia's top military brass, took control of the military headquarters of the southern city of Rostov and then

marched on Moscow in a mutiny on June 23 and 24.

Mr Putin initially said he would crush the mutiny, comparing it to the wartime turmoil that ushered in the revolutions of 1917. However, the situation was defused hours later when a deal was clinched, the full details of which are still unclear.

What has happened since?

After Mr Putin cast the mutineers as traitors, Wagner and Mr Prigozhin came under attack by the Russian state. Police raided Wagner properties, and state television claimed that Mr Prigozhin's operations had received nearly US$20 billion (S$27 billion) from the state.

The Kremlin looked for a way to bring the group's fighters under control without losing the fighting capability of Wagner, which itself was riven by disputes over its future and who should lead it.

On Aug 23, the private jet on which Mr Prigozhin and Mr Utkin were travelling to St Petersburg

crashed north of Moscow, killing all 10 people on board.

After Mr Prigozhin's death, Mr Putin ordered Wagner fighters to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state – a step that Mr Prigozhin had opposed due to his anger at the defence ministry, which he said risked losing the Ukraine war.

Russian sources told Reuters that some of the group's fighters have signed contracts with the defence ministry, though many more have joined a variety of Russian private military groups.

Unconfirmed Russian reports said that Mr Anton Yelizarov, known by the call sign "Lotus", has been appointed commander of Wagner. Mr Yelizarov, a former deputy of Mr Utkin, commanded the storming of Bakhmut.

Besides Ukraine, Mr Yelizarov saw action in Syria, Central African Republic and Mali. While Mr Prigozhin criticised Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Mr Yelizarov said the minister was "out of control" and seeking to destroy Wagner.

But it is unclear who within the Russian state is directing Wagner – and how far the group can keep operating abroad in places such as Syria, Libya, Central African Republic and Mali.

Back in the war?

Mr Putin's Kremlin meeting with Wagner's Troshev,

who now works for the defence ministry, is a major hint that Wagner fighters – if not the group itself – are returning to the war.

Addressing Mr Troshev, Mr Putin said: "You know what it is, how it is done, 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."

The meeting is also an indicator that Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who attended the meeting, and Mr Troshev will coordinate the work of Wagner fighters.

Russian, Ukrainian and Western sources have indicated that Wagner fighters are returning to the front.

British military intelligence said that hundreds of fighters formerly associated with Wagner have likely started to redeploy to Ukraine as part of a variety of different units.

"The exact status of the redeploying personnel is unclear, but it is likely individuals have transferred to parts of the official Russian Ministry of Defence forces and other private military companies (PMCs)," British military intelligence said.

Russian war blog Rybar, which has over 1.2 million subscribers, said that Wagner fighters would return to Bakhmut.

"The first units of the PMC began to return to Bakhmut to conduct a counteroffensive against previously lost positions," Rybar said. REUTERS