Portrait of former commander Wagner was brought to the Russian Ministry of Defense by Mr. Putin

(Dan Tri) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has assigned former Wagner commander Andrey Troshev to be in charge of volunteer combat units in the military campaign in Ukraine.

Former Wagner commander Andrey Troshev (Photo: Reuters).

TASS news agency reported on September 28 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Russian Deputy Minister of Defense, General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, and Andrey Troshev, a retired Russian colonel and former

The content of the meeting was to discuss plans to establish volunteer military units, who can carry out various combat missions, mainly in the area of special military operations, Mr. Putin said.

Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told RIA news agency that Mr. Troshev was working at the Russian Ministry of Defense.

According to AP, President Putin ordered Mr. Troshev to take charge of commanding volunteer combat units in Ukraine.

Before this meeting on September 28, Mr. Putin also met with former Wagner commanders, including Mr. Andrey Troshev, after this force’s failed rebellion at the end of June.

During that meeting, Mr. Putin offered an option for Wagner to continue fighting for Russia under the leadership of another of their direct commanders, but did not specify a specific name, only mentioning the nickname `

According to European Union (EU) sanctions documents and other well-informed sources, `Gray Hair` appears to be the nickname of Mr. Andrei Troshev, a retired Russian colonel and founding member.

The French Ministry of Finance said Troshev’s contact name was Siedoy (meaning `Silver Hair` in Russian).

One of his associates was Dmitry Utkin, a former special forces officer of the GRU military intelligence and a co-founder of Wagner.

`Mr. Andrei Troshev directly participated in Wagner’s military operations in Syria. He was particularly deeply involved in the Deir al-Zor area,` the EU said.

Supporting channels for Wagner on Telegram repeatedly said that he was one of the highest-ranking commanders of this mercenary group.

According to Russian sources, Mr. Troshev was born in St. Petersburg on April 5, 1962.

He fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet Union’s decades-long war there, according to Russia’s Fontanka news agency.

Mr. Troshev was one of the people invited to a reception at the Kremlin in December 2016.

Another piece of information is that Ukraine imposed sanctions on Mr. Troshev on February 26.

Wagner forces played an important role in Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, especially at the Bakhmut battlefield.

After the rebellion and after Mr. Prigozhin and a number of Wagner commanders died in a plane crash in Russia in August, the fate of this force became unknown.