Ex-Prigozhin aide to oversee Ukraine volunteer fighters: Kremlin

Andrei Troshev, a retired colonel known by the nickname 'Sedoi', hails from Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg and is a decorated veteran of Kremlin campaigns in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria. "At the last meeting we talked about you overseeing the formation of volunteer units that can carry out various tasks, first and foremost of course in the zone of the special military operation," Putin was quoted as saying to Troshev, using Moscow's name for its offensive in Ukraine.