Where are the fighters of PMC Wagner now? What the camp of PMC Wagner looks like near Krasnodar. - They were hollowed out from the air

Among themselves, they call Syria a "sandbox". Because the sand. Lots of sand. And the heat plus fifty. They know: if something happens, no one will save. And their bones will forever remain to rot under this burning sun all around, and the jackals will do the rest. The contract stipulates: non-return of cargo-200 home. Too expensive.

Instead of a ringing tone, Sergey's phone has a funny melody:

“Our armored personnel carrier is all crumpled, but quite so on the move, it beats the damned ISIS men, knocks out the spirit of the bastards. Behind the plain there are mountains at once, a pass through the mountains, and behind it is Palmyra, I have been her all my life ... "

The ending is quite in the style of Cord, so I will not give it here.

Sergei is a little over thirty, he is a former lawyer from Donetsk, but he has not worked in his specialty for four years - because of the war. First, the one in Ukraine. Then here - in Syria. War without rules. So he is unlikely to need beautiful legal terms: in battle, they will not save.

“The deed is done, it took only a few hours to get ready, we helped break the shackles of the Syrian falcons. Let the tourists come - Damascus, Palmyra, it doesn't matter. Money, women and wine await us at home ”- the bad boys in the homemade songs of the current“ fortune hunters ”try to seem even worse than they are.

I ask Sergei to let me listen to other hits of this Syrian war - he throws me through the messenger a covered "Cuckoo" by Viktor Tsoi. The chorus is almost unchanged. "My palm turned into a fist ..."

I can imagine how Sergei might look in real life: short, wiry, in shabby green camouflage, an unhealed callus on the index finger of his right hand - from the trigger. And there is a bruise on the shoulder too - from a machine gun. Here are just no awards for mercenaries.

We are not given awards. These are the Cossacks - titles, orders, they love that. And they don't know how to fight. The guys ask one newbie: "Do you even understand where you got to?" He mows right into the face of the fool: "What's wrong - I saw the car of the Islamists and throw a grenade at it." Damn, but I saw a car - tick away from it quickly. She carries a ton of explosives on herself.

Jihad mobile?

There are two types of them. Jihad mobile and inghimasi are such suicide squads that first fight like ordinary soldiers, and when they run out of ammunition, they activate the suicide belt. They explode, dying and taking everyone who is near them. Well this is Hiroshima and Nagasaki, how much TNT is hung on them! Their task, these crazy fanatics, is to die on the battlefield. They are going for this.

Our purpose of the trip is to make money. Without patriotism. True, the Cossacks come up with some beautiful fairy tales for themselves - for example, that they go to study Orthodoxy in extreme conditions, while Syria is the cradle of Christianity, but this is also for excuses. Mostly people go to earn money. It's just that not everyone admits this openly and honestly. This is normal. We also went to earn money, not kill. We, as recruiters, were told: you will protect communications, checkpoints, oil rigs, refurbish factories, and arrive at the place - both-na! - and in the assault battalion.

Have you signed a contract?

If you can call it that. Let's just say: I signed an agreement. There is a list of what we must do, there are responsibilities, but no rights. If you break any point, for example, you drink on the front line, then you get paid. The unit is fined completely. Although they drink a little - in such heat. But vodka in Syria is good.

Where do recruiters find their potential "clients"?

Recruiters have been working in Donbas since 1914. But in the early years, few left. Firstly, no one knew about Syria, and secondly, the DPR fought for an idea, for the salvation of the Russian world. It was then vulgarized by all. Now it is not clear whether there is peace or war. Many Russian volunteers returned home. The militias dispersed too. And what we know how - nothing but how to fight. If you serve in Donetsk now, you get 15 thousand rubles. Here I was offered 150 thousand a month, plus combat, plus an exit, and so on. I have a wife on maternity leave, two weather children, a son and a daughter, old parents. I won't make that much in a year. Even if you imagine that they will cheat and pay less, it is still better than nothing.

Are they often cheated?

- Who will behave how. In general, there are two large private military companies on the market today - the Wagner PMC of Dmitry Utkin and the Turan PMC, a Muslim battalion. The very first was the "Slavic Corps", but now it is no longer there. There are also subcontractors, intermediaries who also recruit people. They have nothing to do with the official Russian military structures. How legitimate they are is also none of my business; in my opinion, they are formalized through the leftist states, where they are registered and licensed - in South Africa, for example. I know that there were such organizations who offered 240 thousand rubles a month, but in reality they all get about the same - 150.

I will not say that they threw someone so hard: we have word of mouth, today they throw it - tomorrow no one will go. We are all the same in this circle, everyone knows everyone, in principle. When I was in the camp where I was being trained, they paid additionally 2-3 thousand daily allowances, for a month you can also raise a piece of bucks.

And in general not to go anywhere?

Personally, I did not know such. But the preparation is so-so, to be honest. A shooting range, a training ground, a training and material part ... Among other things, they talk about the traditions of the Syrian people, such as not to accidentally break them ... Personally, I was helped by the knowledge of how to survive in the desert: there are also a lot of creeping reptiles, so you take four pegs, you drive them into the sand, tie them with a woolen square thread - not a single scorpion can crawl through this woolen thread. They feel them and are afraid for some reason.

How did you get to Syria - on a military plane? Civilians?

Charter. To Latakia. We had a legend that we were peaceful builders, or something. There the sea, warm, good, but they did not let go for a walk separately. Although many ran off to swim a couple of times.

Did you disobey the order?

But what kind of order is there ... You still have no idea who goes there for the most part. The Ministry of Defense will not sign a contract with a person with a tarnished biography. And we also had previous convictions, and those who did not find work at home, knocked about without money, former volunteers who came to military training in Rostov, militias, even ethnic Ukrainians were, including those who fought against Donbass. Sometimes you see such a person in front of you - and you just go nuts.

Nothing sacred? ..

Not at all. It's okay. It's amazing how life can turn out. When the very first fighters were sent there, there was a strict selection, they say, even a competition. Now they take everyone. Personally, I saw an amputee, a man without an arm, he is a machine gunner by profession. How can he shoot? .. It seems to me that recent times recruiters are paid for quantity, not quality. Therefore, there are so many stupid losses.

Those Cossacks who were executed by the ISIS were from the May group. 150 people then arrived - in the very first battle they received 19 "cargo-200" ... It's just that the numbers are hidden, the media leaks out a minimum of information about what is happening. Those who were the last to arrive, they had such training, which is immediately clear: the suicide bombers arrived.

How much are the relatives of the dead and wounded paid? Is it in the contract?

Three million - for the deceased, 900 thousand - for injury. But in reality, we have such insurance that if they are injured, and you are not wearing a bulletproof vest or a helmet, then they may not pay anything. And the armor with equipment weighs 18 kg. Who will carry him in such heat ?! They are also fined for this. But the relatives of those two whose heads were cut off will be sure to make all the payments due, because the press made a fuss.

They are heroes! ISIS did not swear allegiance (banned in Russia - E.K.) ...

Don't make me swear. They lost heart. Because normal guys would not have surrendered alive.

What a nightmare - with this cutting off of heads!

Ours are also cut off. And what, who was killed in the desert to drag everything on himself? For one head of the ISIS, at first they paid 5,000 rubles. The guys dragged a whole bunch of them ... Therefore, they dropped the price - you need to stop nightmare the local population - lately they paid like a thousand. I’m definitely not interested, because I don’t do it myself.

And they were definitely Islamist fanatics, and not civilians?

I'm telling you exactly. Syria is now divided into zones. Pink - Damascus, Latakia and surroundings. You can't touch anyone there. There is also a gray zone - back and forth, and the most terrible - black, where we stand. There are no peaceful people there. All enemies.

I don’t understand why it’s impossible to carry out air strikes against these countless Ishilov villages without using the infantry, since such crazy human losses?

This is very understandable. The use of infantry, soldiers, is much cheaper than aviation. It has always been that way. Soldiers are meat.

In ancient times, the armies of all countries had rules: for the first three days, a city captured by troops was given to the victors. Is there such a thing now?

I guess, yes. Everything that you find in the liberated villages is yours. Only money is required. These fanatics have their own - gold dinars, silver dirhams, copper falsifications ... Although they are made of pure gold, you cannot take them with you. They bear the symbols of ISIS - "Islamic State" (prohibited in Russia), their storage and distribution is equivalent to a criminal offense and support for terrorism. Who needs such a headache? ..

What about after the fight? How are you resting? You are not an official army - so, concerts of famous guest performers from Moscow are not allowed for you? ..

Yes, it can be boring. But you can buy a wife. A virgin from a good family costs 100 bucks. For a year. Kalym type. If you take it forever, then it is $ 1,500-2,000. It's easier to buy there than to search here. I know guys who corrected documents for such brides and then took them with them to Russia. In general, women help a lot in war - at least by brightening up our life. But basically only officers can afford them.

Are they well fed?

They are fed like slaughter. But the water is tense. There is a technical and a drinking one. But you can't drink technical. And drinking is not enough.

With weapons how?

Here is a problem with weapons. The equipment is old, worn out, shaggy years ... They also give out Chinese machines. It is clear that people throw off and buy weapons themselves - they want to live, and since cash is not very good, many spend so-called cigarette money on this: about $ 100-200 a month.

Is the salary transferred to the card?

As you want. Usually on a card to your wife or whomever you say, yes.

After death, a nondisclosure subscription also applies to relatives?

In fact yes. They are warned that it is better not to exaggerate this topic if they want to be paid for everything. In the end, the man went there voluntarily, no one forced him. It is clear that no one will drag his corpse back to his homeland, because it is expensive, and there is no particular sense. But three million, which will be given for the murdered, will earn alive in two years only ...

Do you consider yourself a mercenary?

Not. I was put in such conditions. In the Donbass in the ranks from the very beginning of hostilities and almost to the very end. I had convictions. And I personally know those who would never agree to die for money - only for the Motherland and the idea. But gradually nothing remained of the ideas, and the war turned into business as usual. Ordinary people have to adapt too. But I didn't betray myself.

And who was betrayed?

There was a case. Our guys caught fire alive. It happened. And they burned for a long time. It was scary to watch them suffer. It was necessary to shoot them, and it would have been merciful, but I could not ... Perhaps this can be considered a betrayal.

Do you believe in God?

- I do not know. Probably I believe in something. The good, the bad. I do not know. All I know is that killing is not good. And I do not like it.

Simple accounting

One of the leaders of a private military company gave us a comment on condition of anonymity.

“I believe that there is essentially no criminal offense here. Yes, there is an article over all PMC members - participation in illegal armed formations, or even the leadership of illegal armed groups, up to 20 years in prison, but let's think about the fact that now a new type of war is waged all over the world. Let us recall the experience of the same Americans, all their operations in Iraq or Afghanistan are mainly carried out by PMCs. The French Foreign Legion is generally supported by the government. So it's silly to pretend to be naive young ladies and say that we shouldn't have this, because it's bad.

This is a business. We will not capture the market, others will come to our place. But while Russian PMCs are beginning to gradually squeeze the Western ones: because ours are undemanding and take on everything, yes, they are deceived. But deception is also a life experience.

At the rate we get about $ 5,000 per person per month. According to the contract, you pay 2000 plus 500 for related expenses. There remains a net profit of 2500 times the number of fighters.

1. Union of fascists with recidivists.

Roma was killed, but the people, the cadres that he put forward are still alive. One of them whom Roma left us as a keepsake is Putin's chef Prigozhin. He could not have gotten so close to Putin and Zolotov if Tsepov had not helped. As the saying goes, the person died, but his work lives on.

4. Forces of special machinations.

In general, as you understood, Putin's chef is a person with a rich biography. And in 2000-2001. she made another zigzag: Prigozhin left from under the roof of Misha Kutaissky and went over to Tsepov-Zolotov. And soon he completely fell into Putin's inner circle.

After this, the affairs of our hero went uphill. From an average restaurateur, he turned into a supplier of ready meals for schools and military units for huge sums. But at some point even this seemed not enough. And somewhere in 2012, Prigozhin began to be attracted for a non-core (non-kitchen) business.

At first it was a project to clog the Internet with Putin's propaganda. With Prigozhin's money (ie from the budget), the famous troll factory in Olgino appeared in St. Petersburg, which then moved to 55 Savushkina, then to the Lakhta-2 business center, etc.

Petersburg, business center "Lakhta-2" on the street Optics, 4. Most of Putin's comments on social networks are written here.

In addition to this factory for writing comments, in 2014 there was also the "Federal News Agency" (FAN) - a group of sites that spread Putin's and GB-shny nonsense on the Internet under the guise of news. From the series: “The USA is in a panic over our new fighter. The Russophobes of the State Department strangled themselves with laces. " True, they overdid it, and in 2017 Google threw all FAN sites out of Google News, along with the archive for all the years. But Yandex News continues to give out this Prigogine garbage in batches.

And finally, since 2014, Prigozhin began to participate not only in informational, but also in real wars of the Putin regime - in the east of Ukraine she received a baptism of fire PMC Wagner... And in the fall of 2015, she was transferred to Syria.

Moscow, 2016. The commanders of Wagner PMCs in the Kremlin. Judging by the Russian press, in Lugansk Utkin liked to go out wearing a Wehrmacht helmet. In the image that is. It's strange that he didn't wear it to the Kremlin. Still, a meeting with the Fuhrer.

The one to the left of Putin is Andrei Troshev ("Sedoy"), Utkin's deputy at the PMC. A former paratrooper, then he served in the SOBR. According to Russian media reports, in June 2017, he was found on the street in St. Petersburg in a state of "severe alcoholic intoxication" and taken to a hospital. I had 5 million rubles with me, some maps of Syria, papers for Wagner PMC. I almost drank the military secret, in short.

Another participant of the reception in the Kremlin is Ratibor, aka Alexander Kuznetsov. This is a major from the "Senezh" center in Solnechnogorsk ("sunflowers", special operations forces of the Ministry of Defense). In 2008, Major Ratibor sat for robbery and kidnapping. In 2013, he miraculously got out of prison and became a mercenary.

It is noteworthy that in the same place in Solnechnogorsk, where the "sunflowers" grow, the private security company "Stealth" is now based, about which Litvinenko once wrote. The private security company was established in the 1990s. jointly by the FSB and the Izmaylovo organized criminal group to commit contract killings - for hire and by order of the Motherland. Special forces fighters were involved in the private security company. The office was a living symbol of the merger of the FSB and the mafia - where one ended and another began, it was already impossible to determine.

The private security company "Stealth" was founded by FSB colonel Lutsenko (he still works there), and General Khokholkov ("Yeltsin Sudoplatov") was his curator in the 1990s. The general also covered the heroin trade, and the PSC was his help in the showdown. In short, the special operations forces (lads with the Chekists).

Returning to the Wagner PMC, it is worth noting that it also arose on the basis of the under-roof office of the special services: the backbone of Wagner PMC was formed back in 2013 as part of a security company Moran Security Groupheaded by Vyacheslav Kalashnikov, Putin's colleague in the KGB.

Moran is a firm that, since 2010, has been recruiting mercenaries to guard sea-going ships abroad (including those carrying contraband). It was to Kalashnikov in "Moran" that Utkin first went, quitting the army in 2013. Major Kuznetsov (Ratibor) also began his career there as a mercenary after leaving prison, and many others.

Lieutenant Colonel of the FSB Vyacheslav Kalashnikov from Petersburg. The person who selected the key personnel for the Wagner PMC:

In 2013, the first (unsuccessful) attempt to send mercenaries to Syria for land operations was made through the Kalashnikov firm. They collected a small unit (267 people), with the loud name "Slavic Corps", and sent to fight for Assad. However, without air and artillery support, the mercenaries could not fight, in the first battle they fled and were sent back to Russia.

This detachment included Utkin and the future command staff of Wagner PMC. The first pancake came out lumpy, but in 2014 they were remembered again, creating a new, larger gang, which went to fight on a grand scale - in Ukraine, again in Syria, etc. And the lackey cook was brought in to pay for it all (from the budget money in the end, so it's not a pity).

Wagner's private military company is illegal in Russia. They don't talk about it on state channels. But her fighters died in the Donbas and in Syria, and now they are probably working in Africa. DW has collected all the evidence about this PMC.

Three Russian journalists - Kirill Radchenko, Alexander Rastorguev and Orkhan Dzhemal - were killed in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday, July 30. The Russians went there to investigate Wagner's private military company. Journalists and activists have collected much information about her bit by bit over the past years. DW represents all the most important that has been learned so far.

What is PMC Wagner

The Wagner private military company or the Wagner group is an unofficial military organization that is not part of the regular armed forces of Russia and does not have a legal status on its territory. The military units of PMC Wagner totaled at different times and according to various sources, from 1350 to 2000 people. According to sources from the German newspaper Bild in the Bundeswehr, the total number of mercenaries reaches 2,500.

Officials in Russia deny the existence of Wagner's PMC. The Kremlin only admits that, privately, Russians can participate in hostilities abroad. Mercenary activity is prohibited by Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, however, proposals are made in the State Duma and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation to legalize private military companies in Russia. Talking about the goals of Russian journalists in the CAR, the state media of the Russian Federation reported that they "filmed documentaries in the republic about the life of this country."

Where did Wagner come from and what are Prigozhin's interests

Dmitry Valerievich Utkin "Wagner", born in 1970, is considered the head of a private military company of the same name. He apparently took up this activity after his dismissal from the post of commander of the 700th separate spetsnaz detachment of the 2nd separate special forces brigade of the GRU, stationed in Pechory, Pskov region. A copy of the report on his dismissal is on the Web. Nothing is known about its authenticity, but there were no denials either. In 2016, Utkin was seen at a special reception in the Kremlin for the military who distinguished themselves with special heroism. Since June 2017, Utkin has been under US sanctions, the list of the US Treasury says: "Associated with Wagner's private military company."

Evgeny Prigozhin

Some of the sources of financing for PMCs in the media are called secret items of expenditure of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as well as businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He is also called "Putin's chef". As RBC found out, Yevgeny Prigozhin participated in several tenders to ensure the maintenance of the Wagner group's base.

Prigozhin himself, who is also under US sanctions, denies any connection with PMC Wagner. There is only indirect evidence of his involvement. Since the winter of 2016-2017, the Russian company Euro Polis LLC has become interested in the development of gas and oil fields in Syria. According to RBC and Fontanka, she is affiliated with Prigozhin.

In the summer of 2017, Euro Polis entered into an agreement with the Syrian state concern that it will be engaged in the protection and extraction of energy resources at local fields and receive at its disposal a fourth of the volume produced from those towers that it recaptured from ISIS militants, the AP agency reported with reference for a copy of the agreement. The functions of protection, as it is believed, should be taken over by the soldiers of the Wagner PMC.

Where Wagner's mercenaries fought

PMC Wagner grew, as it is believed, from the military company "Slavic Corps", which carried out combat missions in Syria back in 2013. The future head of the PMC, Dmitry Utkin, callsign "Wagner", also belonged to the "Slavic Corps". The first evidence of the activities of PMC Wagner was recorded by the Ukrainian special services in May 2014 in the Donbass. In October 2017, the head of the SBU of Ukraine, Vasily Gritsak, announced the involvement of the "Wagnerites" in the destruction of the military transport Il-76 in eastern Ukraine in June 2014, the storming of the Donetsk airport and the hostilities near Debaltseve. There is no independent confirmation of this information.

PMC Wagner, according to various testimonies, twice participated in the liberation of Palmyra

Since the second half of 2015, evidence of the activity of Wagner PMCs has appeared only in Syria. It is believed that its fighters, in particular, were actively involved in the first and second assault on Palmyra in 2016 and 2017. Since June 2017, the goals of the mercenaries, as reported by the Russian media RBC and Fontanka, have changed. "Fontanka" wrote that the Russian Ministry of Defense has drastically reduced the supply of weapons to PMCs, transferring only outdated samples.

Allegedly, PMCs were offered to receive funding in Syria itself, including through the seizure and protection of oil and gas fields. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the attack in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Syrian village of Khusham, presumably with the participation of the "Wagnerites", was conducted in the area of \u200b\u200ban oil field and, according to some reports, was aimed at its capture.

Interests of Russian PMCs in Africa

The interest of Russian mercenaries in the region was recorded after negotiations russian leadership with the leaders of the Sudan and the Central African Republic in the fall of 2017. According to the British BBC, traces of Wagner's PMCs have been seen in Sudan since the end of 2017. Russian journalist Alexander Kots published a video with a Russian instructor teaching soldiers in Sudan, with the caption "everyday life of a Russian PMC."

According to The Bell, about 100 mercenaries are training Sudanese military units. In exchange, according to the publication, M Invest and Meroe Gold associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin signed concession agreements for gold mining in this country.

The road to Sibut where Russian journalists were killed

But armed people from Russia were also spotted in the neighboring Central African Republic, and it is possible that this is already a new PMC, not associated with the Wagner group. Officially, it is only known that Russia is exploring the possibilities of "mutually beneficial development of the natural resources of the CAR. In 2018, the implementation of exploration mining concessions began," the Russian Foreign Ministry said at the end of March.

The foreign ministry also said that Moscow "on a gratuitous basis" supplied "a batch of small arms and ammunition for the needs of the Central African Army in late January - early February, and also sent 5 military and 170 Russian civilian instructors to train CAR military personnel.

The first that "civilian instructors" may be members of Russian PMCs, reported the French radio station Europe1, AFP agency and Le Monde. According to them, the Russians chose the estate of the former leader of the country, Bokassa, 60 kilometers from the capital, Bangui, as their base. AFP correspondent who visited the place said that he could not take photos or videos.

Private army soldiers: who are they

The recruitment of mercenaries, judging by the information about the dead, went all over Russia. Many of those killed in Syria had previous combat experience in eastern Ukraine. This is confirmed by both relatives and friends of the deceased mercenaries. According to the Ukrainian SBU, there are 277 people who fought in both "hot spots".

The recruitment of private army personnel, apparently, was not limited only to Russia, but was carried out among the inhabitants of the part of eastern Ukraine, which is under the control of the separatists. According to the SBU in October 2017, 40 fighters with Ukrainian passports served in the Wagner PMC. Similar information without specifying exact figures was previously cited by several Russian media outlets.

How they accept and how much are paid to mercenaries

The mercenaries hired by the PMC sign a non-disclosure agreement. Most of the details were reported about the work of Wagner PMC by the St. Petersburg edition of Fontanka, which claims to have part of the company's internal documentation. Referring to the published copies of the documents, Fontanka claims, in particular, that all applicants fill out questionnaires with personal information, photographs, are tested on a polygraph and receive from 160 to 240 thousand rubles a month for their work.

Ruslan Leviev, founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) activist group, which monitors the actions of the Russian military in Syria, clarifies that salaries depend on the skills, goals and location of the operation. During training in Russia, according to CIT, the salary ranges from 50 to 80 thousand, during foreign operations - 100-120 thousand, in case of hostilities - 150-200 thousand, in case of special campaigns or major battles - up to 300 thousand ...

Where do mercenaries train? in Russia

The "Wagner Group", according to numerous testimonies, trains at a military base near the Molkino farm in the Krasnodar Territory, directly adjacent to the 10th separate brigade of the GRU special forces of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (military unit 51532). There is no information about other training points.

Mercenary losses

Counting losses among the "soldiers of fortune" is complicated for a number of reasons: this is the illegal status of the PMC and its fighters, and the formal non-accountability of the company to government agencies, and a non-disclosure agreement. As a result, the relatives of the victims often learn about the incident only after a few weeks. The Russian Defense Ministry refuses to record losses among the mercenaries.

In October 2017, the SBU cited data on 67 dead who had experience of hostilities both in Donbass and in Syria. As of December 2017, Fontanka journalists estimated the total number of identified casualties since the beginning of the mercenaries' participation in hostilities in Syria at 73, and the CIT team at 101.

See also:

From "spring" to war

In early 2011, the Arab Spring reached Syria, but the first peaceful demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the police. Then, starting on March 15, mass protests broke out throughout the country demanding the resignation of Bashar al-Assad. It was hardly possible to imagine that those events would initiate a conflict that would drag on for eight long years and claim the lives of almost half a million Syrians.