Wagner’s “true leader” has appeared for a long time in charge of the command and deployment of Wagner’s troops
2023-07-23 20:15:41 Source: Hot News Shared to:
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“If you haven’t guessed who I am, I’m ‘Wagner’!” On July 19, in a video released by the Russian private military company “Wagner”, Dmitry Utkin, the “soul” of the organization, welcomed the “Wagner” soldiers who came to Belarus with these words.
It is worth noting that this is the first time he has appeared in public view since 2016.
Over the years, Utkin has been regarded as the most mysterious leader of “Wagner”, and Utkin’s radio call sign in battle is “Wagner”. In February 2014, he founded “Wagner” together with Prigozhin. The division of labor between the two is clear: Prigoren mainly provides funds for “Wagner”, while Utkin is the “real leader” of “Wagner”, and has been responsible for the command and deployment of “Wagner” troops for a long time.
Previously, according to an exclusive interview published by the Russian “Kommersant” on July 13, Putin said that when he met with Wagner’s personnel on June 29, he proposed multiple options for his future, including continuing to be led by a person code-named “white hair” who served as the actual commander for the past 16 months.
Putin did not specify who the “white hair” refers to, and the Kommersant report did not provide further interpretation. However, media including Reuters and CNN quoted European sanctions documents as saying that it was Andrei Troshev, a retired Russian military officer.
According to a previous report by the St. Petersburg local newspaper “Fontanka”, “White Hair” was also a member of the Special Rapid Response Unit (SOBR) of the Northwest Federal District of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to Reuters, Troshev had fought in Chechnya and Afghanistan for a long time. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, he transferred to serve in the Russian North Caucasus Military District, and then joined SOBR as a commander.
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2023-07-23 12:15:41
