Vladimir Putin wants a new head of the Russian private army Wagner. Apparently, he already has a candidate in mind.
After the near-coup in Russia, which was noticed around the world, she was almost declared dead. But billionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary army is alive. As the fate of Wagner’s boss Prischoshin is currently uncertain, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a new strongman at the front in his place. According to CNN, he already has a candidate: senior mercenary Andrei Nikolaevich Troshev.
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Putin himself is said to have attended a meeting five days after the end of the Wagner rebellion. Prigozhin and several dozen high-ranking Wagner fighters are said to have attended the meeting, as Putin told the Kommersant newspaper. As he did so, the Kremlin chief explained to the Wagner mercenaries present that among the many job opportunities he offered them, one was that they should continue fighting under the direct command of their commander, a man who goes by the name “Sedoy”. In Russian it means “the gray haired“.
A retired colonel as the new boss
“Nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person who has always been their real commander,” Putin told Kommersat. The Russian president claimed that many of Wagner’s commanders nodded in response to his offer. But Prigozhin, who sat in front of his staff and did not see them shaking their heads, was quoted by Kommersant as saying that Wagner’s commanders did not agree with the decision.
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But who is “Sedoy”? According to CNN, the suspect is Andrey Troshev, 70, a retired Russian colonel. Troshew is said to be a founding member and chief executive of the Wagner Group, 2021 EU-France records show. In the documents, “Sedoy” is said to be the Wagner Group’s chief of staff in Syria.
Active in Syria, Chechnya and Afghanistan
“Andrei Trozhev is directly involved in the Wagner Group’s military operations in Syria. He was particularly involved in the Deir ez-Zor area,” according to EU documents. “As such, he makes a crucial contribution to Bashar al-Assad’s war effort and therefore supports and benefits from the Syrian regime.”
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According to the Russian online news portal Fontanka, “Sedoy” is also a former employee of the special unit of the Northwest Federal District of the Russian Interior Ministry. He also fought in the Chechen and Afghan wars. According to Russian media, Andrei Nikolaevich Troshev received two Orders of Valor and a medal of the Order for Services to the Fatherland for his services in Chechnya, and two Orders of the Red Star for his services in Afghanistan.
Navigation count 20 minutes, ff Time15.07.2023, 21:38| Act: 07/15/2023, 21:38