As for Wagner itself, the next steps are unclear. Moscow will certainly seek to rein in the group, likely by redeploying elements from the area of the February 7 incident to the outskirts of Damascus, where a major regime offensive is looming.
Wagner is also likely to become more involved in Idlib Province in Syria’s northwest, now becoming a focus of combat between the regime and surviving rebel groups. The revelation that Prigozhin effectively used Wagner as a tool for his personal enrichment in conjunction with Syrian officials, even if sanctioned to a degree by the Kremlin, demonstrates an unsettling and heretofore unknown potential for escalation. The United States gave Wagner a substantial bruising sure to make its commanders think twice before attempting such a stunt again—but the precedent of the group fighting U.S.-backed forces has nonetheless been set.
For Putin, this attack appears to be just the latest in a series of unwelcome escalations in a country where he declared victory just two months ago—and proof that proxy forces such as Wagner can backfire in an unintended fashion.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2018-02-26/russias-mercenary-debacle-syria
12 video
Our (24France) Russia correspondent Elena Volochine travelled to the Svedlorsk region, in Siberia, where she met families in mourning.
She also investigated paramilitary organisations in Ekaterinburg. One of its leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, made some surprising revelations. This is her exclusive report.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eka_Jn9K_HU
the operation was led by a Russian citizen Sergey Kim, a former Marine officer with the military ID number M-0971.
“It was he who masterminded the failed operation and coordinated it with his command from Russia’s official military contingent,” the community said on Feb. 19, referring to insider information provided by “Ikhtamnet_m0209”, an open-source intelligence group with sources close to Wagner.
Der Spiegel (gives a lower number of KIA):
It will take some time until the info is in the public domain.