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British intelligence: Wagner almost certainly now commands up to 50,000 fighters in Ukraine

20 January 2023 13:08 (UTC +04:00)

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has released its latest intelligence report on the crisis in Ukraine, APA reports citing Sky News.

It states that the proxy paramilitary Wagner Group had formally registered as a legal entity on 27 December, according to the Russian Unified State Register.

The group declared its core activity as "management consultancy," but it is not yet clear to what extent the "PMC Wagner Centre" entity will be used to administer Wagner's paramilitary activity.

The ministry goes on to say that Wagner's owner - Yevgeny Prigozhin - has "likely partially funded the organization via inflated government contracts awarded to his other companies."

While the group traditionally has an "opaque profile," the registration continues its "remarkably rapid development".

"Wagner almost certainly now commands up to 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and has become a key component of the Ukraine campaign," the report adds.

"The registration likely aims to maximize Prigozhin's commercial gain and to further legitimize the increasingly high-profile organization."