Wagner could be absorbed into Russia’s Defense Ministry or its military intelligence arm. A Russian general could also be installed to lead the group, U.S. and Western officials said.
The Kremlin and its proxies rebuffed suggestions that it was responsible for destroying a plane that reportedly carried the chief of the Wagner mercenary group.
A tycoon and a Putin ally, he built a paramilitary force that fought by Russia’s side even as he castigated its military leaders. He is believed dead at 62 in a plane crash.
The officials stressed that multiple theories about what brought down a plane in Russia were still being explored. President Putin acknowledged the incident and spoke about Yevgeny Prigozhin in the past tense.