Pentagon says Wagner fully controlled by Kremlin

Wagner is not this completely independent entity, it is certainly operating as part of an overall Russian military invasion of Ukraine, with the support cognizance and leadership of Kremlin leadership, Laura K. Cooper, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, told a press briefing.

"And, you know, it is drawing on resources of the Russian state in a very novel way to include by drawing on, you know, convicts and, you know, sending them into battle, killing, you know, hundreds and hundreds of, of these individuals in the process," she said.

According to Cooper, it is a symbiotic relationship, and at times a coordinative relationship.