Russian majority state-owned energy company Gazprom has been authorized to create its own private security outfit, in a move that Ukrainian intelligence says is part of a war-fueled "arms race" to develop a mercenary army. Nonetheless, experts told Insider that it's possible another Wagner-like mercenary army is in the works, as a means to leverage Gazprom's vast riches in the direction of international conflicts. Sergei Lavrov's recent visits to multiple African countries, Stepanenko suggested that the Gazprom move could be connected to sending Russians to countries like those