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.
He denies links to Wagner.
A recent social media recruitment advert stated the company “has everything - from shooting weapons, to aviation and anti-aircraft systems”.
It was hiring for the “near abroad”, meaning operations in ex-Soviet countries, it said.
It added: “We need absolutely everyone who fits the general work description. We will find a way to use everyone.
"Some will be taught extra skills, some will be trained from zero level... There are vacancies in the front and in the rear…”
The advert backs up a UK Ministry of Defence intelligence report that Wagner is supplying pilots using Soviet-era planes.
The report comes after a former Russian air force major was caught on video after being shot down over Ukraine in a Sukhoi Su-25 Grach, a Soviet-made single-seater jet which first flew in 1975.
Wearing just his pants and a blindfold the wounded pilot is said to have ejected from his plane before it crashed.
The MoD said he later explained he was employed by Wagner and had flown several missions during the war.
It concluded: "The use of retired personnel, now working as Wagner contractors, to conduct close air support missions indicates that the Russian air force likely is struggling to support the invasion of Ukraine with sufficient aircrew.
“This is likely due to a combination of Russia ’s insufficient numbers of suitably trained personnel and its combat losses.
"Whilst conducting his missions, the Russian pilot reportedly used commercial GPS devices rather than Russian military navigation equipment.
"This likely indicates that Wagner aircraft are older models of the Su-25 and that the Russian air force is not providing Wagner with up-to-date avionics equipment.”
Last month, another retired Russian airman was killed after the same model of plane was blasted out of the sky over Luhansk with a Stinger missile.
Former general Kanamat Botashev, 63, was believed to have been fighting with Wagner.
Russia recently lost two Su-25s on its own territory on what it called “training” flights close to the border. It is unclear if those flights were linked to Wagner.
Earlier this month, we revealed how Wagner had endured huge losses since entering the conflict.
While 30,000 Russian troops had been killed within the first 100 days of the war hundreds more elite Wagner soldiers had died.
A Russian soldier's phone call home was intercepted and he could be heard telling his wife: “Even well-trained mercenaries cannot succeed in performing their tasks.”
He adds that: ”Miserable remnants are left,” from the several thousand mercenaries who were sent to Ukraine to bolster regular forces.
