Russian President Vladimir Putin has tasked a former aide of late Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin to oversee volunteer fighter units in Ukraine, according to a Kremlin statement.
"At the last meeting we talked about you overseeing the formation of volunteer units that can carry out various tasks, first and foremost of course in the zone of the special military operation," Mr Putin was quoted as saying to Andrei Troshev, using Moscow's name for its offensive in Ukraine.
The meeting, also attended by Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, underlined the integration of fighters from the mercenary Wagner Group into Russia's regular military in the wake of Mr Prigozhin's aborted mutiny in June.
Mr Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, died with nine other people when a plane flying from Moscow to Saint Petersburg crashed on 23 August.
Exactly two months earlier, he had openly challenged Russia's military high command by leading a short-lived mutiny with his fighters that threatened to spiral into civil conflict.
Observers have said this was the most significant challenge to President Putin's rule.
Mr Prigozhin called off the rebellion after apparently striking a deal with the Kremlin through the mediation of Belarus but he faced no criminal prosecution.
Mr Troshev, a retired colonel known by the nickname "Sedoi" (Grey-haired), hails from Mr Putin's home city of Saint Petersburg and is a decorated veteran of Kremlin campaigns in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria.
He was one of the leaders of the Wagner Group in Syria, for which the European Union put him on its sanctions list in December 2021.
Russia says 11 Ukrainian drones destroyed overnight
Russia has claimed that it had destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, though one dropped explosives on a substation, cutting the local power supply, a regional governor said.
"Eleven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed by air defence systems on duty, one of them over the territory of Kaluga region and 10 over Kursk region," Russia's defence ministry said on social media.
Kursk governor Roman Starovoyt said that the region bordering eastern Ukraine was "massively attacked" by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
In Belaya village, less than 25km from the border, "a Ukrainian drone dropped two explosive devices on a substation", he said.
"One of the transformers caught fire. Five settlements and a hospital were cut off from power supply. Fire crews rushed to the scene."
"Power will be restored as soon as it is safe to do so."
The governor warned citizens that "due to the danger of self-destruction of downed UAVs, it is forbidden to touch their debris, approach them or take photographs".
Earlier, Russia said it had destroyed two Ukrainian drones last night over the neighbouring Belgorod region.
The Belgorod and Kursk regions, south of Moscow, border eastern Ukraine. Kaluga region is closer to the Russian capital.
Since Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in early June, Russia has weathered waves of drone attacks that have sporadically damaged buildings, including in Moscow.
Russian officials have downplayed their significance.
