Dmitri Valeryevich Utkin

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Dmitri Valerjewitsch Utkin ( Russian Дмитрий Валерьевич Уткин ; * 1970 in Kirowohrad , Ukrainian SSR , Soviet Union ) is a Russian entrepreneur and former soldier. He is believed to be the founder of a private military unit known as the Wagner Group , which is credited with conducting covert operations in the war in Ukraine and the civil war in Syria .

Life

Utkin was born in Kirovohrad in the Soviet Union and, according to the Ukrainian authorities, had Ukrainian citizenship after its disintegration . Until 2013 Utkin served as a lieutenant colonel in Pskov , Russia , where he was a member of the GRU's 2nd Special Reconnaissance Brigade .

Then Utkin went to the Russian security service provider “Moran Security Group”, which was operated by ex-military personnel and, among other things, offered protection against pirate attacks at sea. The company later founded the military group "Slavic Corps" and recruited volunteers to take on security tasks in Syria. Utkin went to Syria with the "Slavic Corps" to defend Bashar al-Assad . His battle name was "Wagner".

In 2014 Utkin was the commander of a separate unit within the "Slavic Corps". This eventually became the "Wagner Group", named after his own battle name. He is said to have initially intervened with only 10 fighters in the Ukraine war. Later the mission increased and finally relocated to Syria.

Utkin has a penchant for the aesthetics and ideology of the Third Reich . His battle name "Wagner" refers to Richard Wagner . During his stationing in Luhansk as part of his deployment in the Russo-Ukrainian War, he insisted that his private unit wear steel helmets that imitate the helmets of the Wehrmacht instead of the headgear customary for Russian armed forces .

Utkin was a guest at a reception in the Kremlin on December 9, 2016 on the occasion of his award of the Order of Bravery .

In 2017, Russian media reported that Utkin had been appointed general director of the catering company “Konkord” of Putin's confidante Yevgeny Prigozhin .

Sanctions

Under the Trump cabinet , the United States put Utkin on the Treasury Department's sanctions list in the summer of 2017 because of his involvement in the war in Ukraine .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b "В СБУ раскрыли любопытные подробности о наемниках РФ на Донбассе" segodnya.ua from September 4, 2017
  2. ↑ a b Syria war: Who are Russia's shadowy Wagner mercenaries? In: BBC , February 23, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Denis Korotkow: Они сражались за Пальмиру . On: Fontanka.ru , March 29, 2016.
  4. ↑ a b c d Aleksandr Gostev: Russia's Paramilitary Mercenaries Emerge From The Shadows . In: Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Liberty , December 16, 2016.
  5. ↑ a b "Wagner" mercenary group: Utkin turns from head killer to head chef Der Standard from November 17, 2017
  6. ↑ Klaus-Helge Donath: War in Libya: On mercenary ticket . In: The daily newspaper: taz . March 18, 2020, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed June 8, 2020]).
  7. ^ "Suspected Russian mercenary leader attended Kremlin reception" Reuters, December 16, 2016
  8. ↑ Wagner , Lenta.ru, January 13, 2017
  9. ↑ "Russia / Ukraine-related Designations and Identifications" United States Department of the Treasury of June 20, 2017
  10. ↑ Alan Rappeport and Neil MacFarquhar: "Trump imposes New Sanctions on Russia over Ukraine Incursion" New York Times on June 20, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Utkin, Dmitri Valeryevich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Уткин, Дмитрий Валерьевич (Russian spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian mercenary leader
DATE OF BIRTH 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Kirovohrad , Ukrainian SSR , Soviet Union