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President Vladimir Putin recruited a former aide of late Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin to oversee mercenary fighter units in Ukraine. The Russian president met Andrei Troshev, who is known by his nom de guerre "Sedoi" or "grey hair", along with deputy defence minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov on Thursday night, the Kremlin said in a statement. Mr Putin reportedly said that they had spoken about how "volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks, above all, of course, in the zone of the special military operation". "You yourself have been fighting in such a unit for more than a year," the president said. "You know what it is, how it is done, you know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way." The meeting appeared to be the Kremlin's attempt to show that Mr Putin had regained control over the mercenary group since Prigozhin's death in a plane crash in August following a failed mutiny against Moscow. Prigozhin had claimed that the mutiny, which was aborted before reaching Moscow, was not aimed at toppling Mr Putin but at settling scores with defence minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov. The president in recent months ordered the Wagner mercenaries to sign an oath of allegiance to the Russian state – a step Prigozhin had opposed. Mr Troshev “betrayed” Prigozhin's short-lived mutiny against Moscow after earning Mr Putin’s favour by transferring inside information to the Russian defence ministry, investigative outlet Gulagu.net claimed in July. It is believed that Wagner will now be overseen by Mr Troshev and M Yrevkurov, who have travelled to several countries in recent months where the mercenaries worked. Mr Troshev was born in Leningrad – the Soviet-era name for Mr Putin's home town St Petersburg – and has earlier been pictured with the president. He fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet Union's decade-long war. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he served in the North Caucasus with the Russian army and then in SOBR, a quick reaction special forces unit of the Russian interior ministry. He was a commander in the unit. For his service in Afghanistan, Mr Troshev was awarded the military decoration Order of the Red Star twice. He was awarded Russia's highest medal – Hero of Russia – in 2016 for the storming of Palmyra in Syria against Islamic State militants. Several hundred fighters of the Wagner group have returned to the battlefield in Ukraine to fight for Russia, Kyiv claimed. “We have recorded the presence of a maximum of several hundred fighters of the former Wagner PMC (private military company),” spokesperson for the eastern military command Serhiy Cherevatyi said. These Wagner fighters were scattered in different places and were not part of a single unit, and had no significant impact, he said. “They do not constitute any integral, systematic, organised force,” the spokesperson said. “As they say – game over. These are pathetic remnants, nothing good awaits them here.” Read More Ukraine war - live: Kyiv ‘strikes power substation in Russia’ as Putin meets ‘Grey Hair’ commander Ukraine says hundreds of Wagner fighters back on battlefield months after failed coup A month after Prigozhin’s suspicious death, the Kremlin is silent on his plane crash and legacy The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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Paris Hilton was caught stuck in her boots – a pair of gargantuan $450 animation-like boots - in a recent Instagram post. The DJ exposed a behind-the-scenes look at the cost of wearing the Brooklyn-based brand MSCHF’s x Crocs Big Yellow Boots in her 26 July video. Hilton was seen slipping off her chair as her team member attempted to tear the stompers from her feet. The extremely narrow vamp of the shoes made the extraction all the more difficult, resulting in her friend being jerked around on the floor, grunting, as she pulled at the croslite material. At one point, it seemed the oversize boots had won and were never coming off when Hilton’s colleague drifted into the legs of her chair. Hilton, who was wearing a yellow catsuit that read “sliving,” laughed uncontrollably, gripping the seat so she didn’t fall onto the floor. Finally, one last yank from both women set the 42-year-old model’s foot free. “Yes!” Hilton exclaimed feeling triumphant, while she acknowledged it was “a full-team effort”. Hilton’s followers loved to see her candid video. “The whole team, it’s iconic like you can tell,” one person said, while another joked: “When you can’t take off the shoes from your Bratz Doll.” Even Hilton’s husband weighed in, sending her a string of laughing face emojis. Before the new mom demonstrated the fashion struggle is indeed real, Hilton posed in front of the camera as the face of MSCHF’s x Crocs collaboration campaign. She posed in what fans deemed a very Kill Bill look with black wrap-around shades and a matching yellow two-piece tracksuit. “My new campaign for @MSCHF is hot,” she wrote in the caption of a separate 26 July photo. “Barbie who?” one fan commented, while another added: “Serving up looks like the queen you are.” Aside from The Bling Ring star, other A-listers have recently styled the MSCHF’s boots, including Victoria Beckham, Lil Wayne, and Diplo. Beckham took to her Instagram story, styling the chunky yellow footwear with a long black skirt and understated vest. She captioned the photo with a matching heart even though she had once admitted platform Crocs weren’t for her. MSCHF turned the streets of Manhattan into their own runway during February’s fashion week this year as several influencers and celebrities strutted in their Big Red Boots. The cartoonish design is meant to be “abstraction that frees us from the constraints of reality,” according to the company’s website. “Big Red Boots are really not shaped like feet, but they are extremely shaped like boots.” Read More Victoria Beckham shows off new $450 Crocs boots after claiming she would ‘rather die’ than wear brand Digital art collective MSCHF sells ‘fashion statement’ Pirate Bay and Megaupload email addresses Lil Nas X’s ‘Satan Shoes’ containing human blood sell out in under a minute, amid Nike lawsuit

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