Wagner Group greatly reduced 1 year after Prigozhin’s death, UK Defense Ministry reports

The number of Wagner Group mercenary personnel is drastically reduced one year after the demise of former leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update on Aug. 23, the one-year anniversary of Prigozhin's death.

Prigozhin and other Wagner leaders died in a mysterious plane crash in Russia on Aug. 23, 2023. The crash came two months after Prigozhin led Wagner troops in a short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin.

Since the death of Prigozhin, the Wagner Group's fighting force has significantly decreased, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.  

"In comparison to its peak personnel count of around 50,000 in 2023, Wagner now likely maintains around 5,000 total personnel across its residual deployments in Belarus and Africa," the ministry said.

Several senior Wagner leaders left the organization in the wake of Prigozhin's death, taking positions in the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian military, and the Chechen Special Forces, the ministry said.

The Wagner Group played a pivotal role in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leading Moscow's assault in the Battle of Bakhmut. Following Prigozhin's mutiny and death, the mercenary group withdrew from Ukraine and became fragmented, operating in Belarus and some African nations friendly to Russia.

Wagner is particularly active in Mali, where mercenary forces have clashed with anti-government rebels in recent weeks.

Prigozhin’s death latest in a series of unsolved murders in Putin’s Russia. What’s next?

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The Kyiv IndependentOleg Sukhov