 Redut Private Military Company begins to replace Wagnerites. The British intelligence has revealed the activities of the Redut Private Military Company, which actually replaced Wagner Group in the combat zone in Ukraine. The department noted that the Redut Private Military Company is recruiting mercenaries under the guise of volunteers, including former Wagnerites. The group is controlled and financed by the main directorate of the general staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Since the beginning of the invasion, the Redut has participated in combat operations in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev and Luhansk Oblasts. The group may now consist of more than 7,000 people the intelligence said. Currently, the Redut is one of the private military companies and volunteer units that the Russian Ministry of Defense has been using to strengthen the regular troops. The UK intelligence suggests that recruiting mercenaries into so-called volunteer units helps Russia avoid declaring mobilization which is considered an unpopular move. Investigative journalists spoke to several Redut personnel captured by the Ukrainian military and convicted of torturing civilians in the Kharkiv region. Reporters also interviewed the men's relatives and the recruiters who signed them up with Redut. The investigation also draws on phone data and company documents provided by the Ukrainian military and secret services. Moscow has never mentioned Redut's existence and the government's position remains that mercenary companies cannot exist legally in Russia.