Chechen leader Kadyrov says ex-Wagner fighters are training with his forces

File photo: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, September 28, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File photo

(Reuters) - A large group of Russia's former Wagner mercenaries has started training with special forces from the southern Russian region of Chechnya, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Monday.

Wagner played a prominent role in some of the fiercest fighting of Russia's war in Ukraine, but its future was thrown into question when its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in August, two months after leading a brief mutiny against the Russian defence establishment.