Russia’s Vladimir Putin is looking for another private army to take over from the mercenary Wagner Group in Ukraine after repeated clashes with its outspoken founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, British officials said.

The UK’s Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence update released Tuesday that Russia is “likely seeking to sponsor and develop alternative private military companies [PMC]” to replace Prigozhin’s private army.

Prigozhin has been openly feuding with and criticizing Russia’s military brass for months, even accusing them of “treason” for failing to supply his fighters with sufficient ammunition.

“Russian military leadership likely wants a replacement PMC that it has more control over,” British analysts said.

But finding another mercenary group might prove a tall order.

According to the update, no other known Russian private army “currently approaches Wagner’s size or combat power.”

Prigozhin has stepped up efforts to recruit tens of thousands of new fighters to replenish Wagner’s ranks that had been severely depleted by months of bloody fighting to capture the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

British analysts said that Russia apparently recognizes the value of using mercenary groups in Ukraine “because they are less constrained by the limited pay levels and inefficiency which hamper the effectiveness of the regular army.”

There may also be another, more cynical reason why the Kremlin prefers mercenaries; thousands of inmates are recruited from Russia’s prisons, to do the fighting in Ukraine.

“Russia’s leadership probably believe heavy casualties amongst [mercenaries] will be better tolerated by Russian society compared to regular military losses,” the Ministry of Defense’s bulletin concluded.

The Institute for the Study of War think tank reported in a recent update on the war that Wagner’s private force has lost possibly close to half of its 50,000 fighters in the battle for Bakhmut, which has come to be known as a “meat grinder.”

Ian Stubbs, senior military adviser to the United Kingdom’s mission to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said last week that 30,000 Russian military and Wagner personnel have been killed or injured in the Bakhmut area since July.

On Sunday, Prigozhin said in a video address that his forces had captured the city and raised a flag above its city hall.

Kyiv mocked Prigozhin’s claims, saying that enemy soldiers had raised a flag over “some kind of a toilet” and that Ukraine’s forces had repelled Russian attacks.