Ben Noble, an Associate Professor of Russian Politics at University College London, noted that the Wagner rebellion had heightened uncertainty regarding elite and popular support for Putin’s regime. This concern led to the strengthening of the National Guard and the consolidation of special forces’ command and control.
The Russian Vedomosti newspaper reported that Putin intended to attract former Wagner fighters to the Grom unit, as they were reluctant to join other mercenaries in exile in Belarus.
Experts on Russia’s security services, such as Andrei Soldatov, emphasized the significance of Putin’s actions. Soldatov is trying to gauge how many troops are left to execute the ongoing war with Ukraine. With Wagner disbanded the number of troops fighting in Ukraine has been cut.
John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, pointed out that the move represented a victory for Zolotov, who now commands the Interior Ministry’s last special police unit.
