The Wagner Group was once Putin's close ally but now may threaten his hold on power

Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine have been supported on the battlefield by tens of thousands of mercenaries from a group of contractors led by a businessman and longtime affiliate of President Vladimir Putin. The Wagner Group is a private military company under the control of Yevgeny Prigozhin that cut its teeth in deployments to Crimea and eastern Ukraine's Donbas region in 2014. Charlie D'Agata speaks to London School of Economics Russian expert Jeff Hawn about the onetime allies who are now bitter enemies. Each weekday morning, "CBS Mornings” co-hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson bring you the latest breaking news, smart conversation and in-depth feature reporting. "CBS Mornings" airs weekdays at 7 a.m. on CBS and stream it at 8 a.m. ET on the CBS News app. Subscribe to “CBS Mornings” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/CBSMornings Watch CBS News: http://cbsn.ws/1PlLpZ7c Download the CBS News app: http://cbsn.ws/1Xb1WC8 Follow "CBS Mornings" on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3A13OqA Like "CBS Mornings" on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3tpOx00 Follow "CBS Mornings" on Twitter: https://bit.ly/38QQp8B Subscribe to our newsletter: http://cbsn.ws/1RqHw7T​ Try Paramount+ free: https://bit.ly/2OiW1kZ For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com