Russia says no need for new mobilisation to replace Wagner

Kremlin authorities Monday said there was no need for further mobilisation in Russia to replace Wagner troops who left the battlefield in Ukraine after a short-lived mutiny. 

The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led his forces in a rebellion against Russia's top military brass last month, which was a significant embarrassment for the Kremlin. 

Prigozhin later abandoned his advance on Moscow and struck a deal with the Kremlin, accepting exile in neighbouring Belarus. 

Andrey Kartapolov, the head of the State Duma Defence Committee, stated that there is no threat regarding a drop in the combat potential of the Russian military in the mid-term and long-term perspective. 

He added that, at the time of the rebellion, there were no Wagner PMC employees at the forefront, and they were all in camps.

The Wagner group played a crucial role in capturing several eastern Ukrainian towns, including Bakhmut, after a mass recruitment drive in Russia. Putin has insisted that the mutineers did not galvanise support during their rebellion. 

He initially condemned the rebelling Wagner fighters as traitors and vowed tough punishment, but after the mutiny was halted, Putin allowed the fighters to go back to their homes, join the regular army, or go into exile in Belarus.

Russia's partial military call-up in September 2022 was the first military mobilisation since World War II. Hundreds of thousands of men have been drafted, while tens of thousands more have fled abroad. 

However, last month, before the Wagner rebellion, Putin told reporters that there was "no such need" for any additional mobilisation.

A top Russian propagandist on Sunday accused the Wagner boss of going "off the rails" after receiving billions in public funds, as Moscow's new narrative takes shape in the wake of the brief mutiny. 

The Wagner group's future remains uncertain, and it is unclear how the Kremlin will address the group's role in the conflict in Ukraine.