After the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a purportedly private military group called Redut has widely been tipped as Wagner’s potential successor as Russia’s key mercenary force. A new RFE/RL investigation reveals that Redut is, in reality, a secretive network operated by Russian military intelligence.
Dmitry Zelensky, 41, was pardoned in June, after serving six months on the front lines in Ukraine as a Wagner Group mercenary, having been recruited from prison where he was serving an 11-year sentence for slaughtering his girlfriend, Tatiana Melekhina.