The private pro-Vladimir Putin army Wagner Group now boasts its own air force and is hiring pilots, it has boasted.
Wagner has fought in Syria, Africa and is active in Ukraine and while it has close links to the Russian defence ministry, it is kept at arms length allowing the Kremlin to deny responsibility for its actions.
It is widely believed to be controlled by billionaire oligarch and close confidante of Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose restaurant business has seen him nicknamed Putin's chef.
