Swell.
From GeoPolitical Monitor, August 30:
PMC Redut: The Wagner Group’s Potential Replacement
The death of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his right-hand man, Dmitry Utkin, can signify huge changes in the realm of private military companies (PMCs) in Russia. Particularly, there is a PMC that has been emerging and, now that the chain of command in Wagner has collapsed, at least temporarily, PMC Redut could and is willing to replace Wagner as a key instrument of the Kremlin’s hybrid and conventional warfare.
On top of that, the mercenary group is under the control of Russian Military Intelligence, which speaks volumes about Redut being completely loyal to the state institutions of Russia since they are also reliant on them for ammunition. Yet despite this, the group still has a significant degree of autonomy.
PMC Redut has a long history of serving the Kremlin and operating for Russia abroad. Having been created by the former employees of the Russian MOD, Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Russian Special Forces, who had significant experience in previous combat operations and wars, they have attracted the attention of the oligarchs, who wanted their corporations in Russia and abroad to be guarded and secured. The group has, along with Wagner, taken over the riches of practically every country they’ve gone to. Now with Prigozhin and Utkin gone, Redut will be the main PMC that will take over the security and military operations both abroad and in Ukraine.
Gennady Timchenko, a former KGB officer and a Russian oligarch close to Putin, who’s also known for holding enormous amounts of assets in his gas empire, is the one who benefits most from Redut’s security services, as Redut was created solely for defending the businesses of Timchenko. With Prigozhin’s rising influence in Russia and the Russian military, the elites decided to improve the capabilities of Redut to make it a potential competitor to the Wagner Group. Redut has also been actively recruiting fighters from Wagner, which is one of the reasons for their conflict....
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