Putin says Russian mercenary group has no legal basis so 'doesn't exist'

Russian President Vladimir Putin is claiming that the Wagner private military company “simply doesn't exist” as a legal entity. His comments add to the series of often bizarre twists that have followed the group’s abortive revolt last month — the most serious threat to Putin’s 23-year rule amid the war in Ukraine. Putin told a Russian newspaper late Thursday, referring to the Wagner group, that "it just doesn’t exist.” Putin recounted his own version of a Kremlin event attended by 35 Wagner commanders, including its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, on June 29. That meeting came just five days after Prigozhin and his troops staged a stunning but short-lived rebellion against Moscow authorities.