Russia is aiming to recruit new “private military companies” to fight alongside its regular army in Ukraine, according to UK intelligence.
The move comes amid Moscow’s ongoing feud with the mercenary Wagner Group, which has been fighting with Russian troops.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group and a former ally of Vladimir Putin, has accused the Kremlin of failing to provide them with ammunition and of setting them up for failure in Ukraine.
In its latest intelligence update on the war, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) says the new private military companies (PMCs) would “eventually replace the Wagner Group in its significant combat role in Ukraine”.
However, the MoD also says that “no other known Russian PMC currently approaches Wagner’s size or combat power”.
According to the UK, Moscow needs private military personnel “because they are less constrained by the limited pay levels and inefficiency which hamper the effectiveness of the regular army”.
“Russia’s leadership probably believe heavy casualties amongst PMCs will be better tolerated by Russian society compared to regular military losses,” the MoD say.
The latest development in the year-long war comes after the killing of Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a bomb blast in St Petersburg.
He was addressing a crowd in a cafe on Sunday evening when a sudden explosion killed him, and left more than 30 others wounded.
According to the TASS news agency, the bomb was hidden in a miniature statue which was handed to him.
Many Russian officials have publicly blamed Ukraine for the killing, despite a lack of evidence.