Putin discusses Ukraine’s war with top Wagner commander Troshev.

In a video released on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is shown consulting with one of the Wagner mercenary group’s most senior former commanders on the best ways to employ “volunteer units” in the conflict in Ukraine.

The gathering served as a focal point for the Kremlin’s effort to demonstrate that the government now had control over the mercenary force following a failed insurrection by Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was murdered along with other top commanders in an airplane accident in August. The mutiny occurred in June.

Putin gave the mercenaries the option to continue fighting just days after Wagner’s mutiny, but he proposed that commander Andrei Troshev succeed Prigozhin, according to the Russian Kommersant daily.

According to the Kremlin, Putin met with Troshev, also known as “Sedoi” (or “grey hair”), and Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the deputy defense minister who sat next to Putin, on Thursday night.

The topic of “volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks, especially, of course, in the zone of the special military operation,” was discussed, Putin added, addressing Troshev.

“You have been fighting in such a unit for over a year,” remarked Putin. You know what it entails, how it is carried out, and the problems that must be dealt with beforehand for combat operations to be carried out as effectively and successfully as possible.

Additionally, Putin stated that he wanted to discuss the societal support for those fighting. State television broadcast the meeting, which took place in the Kremlin.

Troshev was seen leaning forward, nodding, and listening intently to Putin while holding a pencil. His comments were not broadcast.

According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Troshev is now working for the defense ministry, according to the RIA news agency.

Since Prigozhin’s attempted rebellion on June 23 and his passing on August 23, the fate of Wagner, one of the most battle-hardened mercenary groups in the world, has remained unknown.

Most people agree that the suppressed mutiny represented Putin’s greatest internal challenge in decades and that of the Russian state. According to Prigozhin, the rebellion was not intended to topple Putin but rather to make amends with the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Following Prigozhin’s passing, Putin issued an order requiring Wagner combatants to swear loyalty to the Russian government—a move Prigozhin had opposed.

According to the Putin meeting, Troshev, and Yevkurov, who have recently visited numerous nations where the mercenaries operate, will now be in charge of what is left of Wagner.

Troshev, a distinguished combatant in Russia’s conflicts in Afghanistan and Chechnya and a former head of the SOBR interior ministry’s fast response unit is a native of Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg and has been seen with the president.

He received the nation’s highest honor, the Hero of Russia medal, in 2016 for his role in the assault on Palmyra, Syria, against terrorists of the Islamic State.