Russian state-backed mercenary Wagner Group, fighting in Ukraine's east, has opened new recruitment centers in 42 Russian cities, the group's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on March 10.
According to a statement published by Prigozhin's holding company, Concord, most of the alleged recruitment centers have been opened in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
The Kremlin-controlled mercenary group Wagner, along with the Russian regular forces, have been attempting to capture Ukraine's eastern city of Bakhmut for months as Moscow tries to consolidate its grip over the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, around half of which it currently controls.
On the same day, Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of Ukraine's Armed Forces, said, as cited by CNN, that a third wave of Wagner troops fighting in the Bakhmut area was being replaced by the regular Russian army.
"The first wave, which began last February, consisted of the professional military, people associated with the FSB, and the Interior Ministry. The second wave of Wagner consisted of those mobilized from prisons, who were almost all wiped out during the so-called 'meat assaults,' when Wagner tried to break through the defenses with live fire," Cherevatyi explained.
"Now we see the replacement of Wagner's group by the regular army. This is probably due to Prigozhin's conflict with the leadership of the Russian army."
Prigozhin has intensified his rivalry with the Russian Defense Ministry over the past month. According to the Institute for the Study of War, he is trying to establish his mercenary group as an independent elite force in his quest for power in Russia.
