President Vladimir Putin's former chief strategist on Monday urged an end to mercenary groups in Russia after a mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner militia, cautioning that they interfered with the chain of command. Vladislav Surkov, once known as the Kremlin’s ‘puppet master’ by friends and foes alike, said "private military companies" were an idea imported from the U.S., created to engage in proxy wars.