Why Putin still needs Wagner

It will be a matter of deep regret for Vladimir Putin that, in the wake of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s ill-fated attempt to overthrow Russia’s military establishment, he has finally been forced to come clean about the Kremlin’s association with the Wagner Group. Deniability is a vital facet for a veteran spook like Putin. Even when Wagner’s band of mercenary cut-throats were spearheading the assault on the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut earlier this year, the Russian leader rebutted claims of Prigozhin’s involvement. ‘He runs a restaurant business, it is his job – he is a restaurant keeper in St Petersburg,’ Putin told Austrian television.

But while Wagner may no longer be able to give Putin the ability to deny his involvement in overseas adventures, he will be reluctant to wind up its global aspirations. For all of Prigozhin’s antics, Wagner gives Putin two precious attributes beyond Ukraine’s battle-fields: influence in foreign conflicts and a lucrative revenue stream.