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No risks to combat potential after Wagner PMC’s withdrawal from special military op zone

Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Committee on Defense, noted that during the attempted armed rebellion, there were no Wagner fighters on the front line, since they were all in camps

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. A withdrawal of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) from the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine pose no risks to the combat potential as the Russian Armed Forces have sufficient means to replace them, Head of the State Duma Defense Committee Andrey Kartapolov told TASS on Monday.

"At the time of the [attempted armed] mutiny there were no Wagner fighters at the front line as they were all stationed in camps," he said. "The rebuff of the [Ukrainian] counter-offensive was conducted practically without their involvement."

"As for replacing them [Wagner PMC] in the reserve, there is something and someone to replace them with," Kartapolov continued.

The senior lawmaker added that as of today "there is no threat at all regarding a drop in the combat potential, both in the mid-term and long-term perspective.".

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