Yevgeny Prigozhin’s son has reportedly taken over “command” of the Wagner Group and is negotiating with Moscow on returning its fighters to the war in Ukraine, leading military analysts have said.

Pavel Prigozhin, 25, was in talks with the Russian National Guard over the future of the mercenary group founded by his father, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said, citing a prominent Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel.

Wagner’s main combat elements are scattered across several countries, including Belarus, the Central African Republic, Libya and Mali, with its fighters having withdrawn from Ukraine earlier this year.

The group has had no clear leader since the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash in August, two months after he led a failed mutiny aimed at removing the Russian military’s top brass over operational failures in the war.

The reported emergence of Pavel Prigozhin as its new chief comes after some Wagner fighters reacted negatively to Vladimir Putin’s apparent embrace last week of one of its former senior commanders, ISW said.