Ukraine-Russia war live: Prigozhin’s son ‘takes over command of Wagner’ Updated 26 minutes ago

The son of Yevgeny Prigozhin has reportedly taken over “command” of the Wagner Group, a leading US think tank has said, citing a prominent Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel.

Pavel Prigozhin, 25, is negotiating with Rosgvardia, the Russian National Guard, over Wagner rejoining combat in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said.

The Wagner Group’s main combat elements are split across several countries, including Belarus, the Central African Republic, Libya, and Mali, and there has been no clear unified leader since the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

It comes after some Wagner group elements reacted negatively to Vladimir Putin’s embrace of former Wagner Group commander and current Ministry of Defense (MoD) employee Andrey Troshev.

The ISW said it indicates that “some Wagner personnel are interested in rallying around a Prigozhin-linked alternative to the Kremlin- and MoD-aligned Troshev.”