Russian President Putin Says 'Wagner Does Not Exist'

File photo: Removal of a 'PMC Wagner' recruiting billboard in Volgograd, Russia, June 24, 2023. © Kirill Braga/Sputnik  

RT: Wagner does not exist, Putin tells media  

The Russian president has opened up about his Kremlin meeting with mutineers  

Russian law does not recognize the existence of private military companies, including ‘Wagner,’ President Vladimir Putin told the newspaper Kommersant on Thursday, when asked about his recent meeting with commanders of the mutinous group. 

While attending a technology fair in Moscow, Putin was asked whether ‘Wagner’ will continue operating as a combat formation. “Well, PMC Wagner does not exist!” Putin told the Kommersant correspondent. 

“We don’t have a law on private military companies! So it simply doesn’t exist!” “The group exists, but legally it does not,” the president clarified. “It’s a separate issue, related to legalization, that needs to be taken up by the State Duma and the government. A complicated question.”  

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Update: "The Wagner Group doesn't exist!" – Putin comments on meeting with rebels (Ukrainska Pravda) 

WNU Editor: Wagner Group will continue to exist, but probably in a new form and name.