For years, Russian mercenary Marat Gabidullin has been killed in the service of the notorious Wagner group in war zones in Syria and Ukraine. But the bloody combat missions on behalf of Russia’s mighty for the private military and security company Wagner also made him think. As the first fighter in Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s parallel army, he has already written a book.
“Wagner. Putin’s Secret Army” (Econ Verlag) is the name of the work that goes up for sale on Thursday and reveals what Russia’s support for Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad or separatists in eastern Ukraine looks like. in concrete terms. “Saving the regime of Bashar al-Assad allowed Russia to recommend itself to the world as a protector and savior of criminals of all kinds,” writes Gabidullin. Wagner’s mercenaries also play a role in Sudan, Mali and Libya. Putin himself said in February: “As far as Wagner is concerned, I have already said that the Russian state has nothing to do with it.” Such companies pursued commercial interests. “They do business there themselves, local officials invite them at the state level and thank them for the work they have done,” he said, referring to Mali.
In contrast, French filmmakers Ksenia Bolchakova and Alexandra Jousset, who made a documentary titled “Wagner, Putin’s Shadow Army,” document the group’s close ties to the Kremlin. You also interviewed Marat Gabidullin and provided a lot of background information to accompany his book. In many places, Wagner travels exclusively on Kremlin service. “By sending mercenaries, the state saves on pension rights and wages it has to pay regular army soldiers. It also allows the dead to disappear,” they write.
Dmitri Utkin is a great admirer of the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler.
— Bolchakova and Jousset
The heads of the organization, which features a portrait of German composer Richard Wagner in its propaganda videos, are Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigoschin and Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Utkin. As a sign of his admiration for music, Utkin uses the fighting name “Wagner”. After his career in the Russian military intelligence service GRU, he would have founded a rapid reaction force under his name Combat Special Forces Veterans from 2014.
“Dmitri Utkin is a great admirer of the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler,” write Bolchakova and Jousset. But Prigozhin is the direct link to the Kremlin. Like Putin, the 62-year-old man, wanted by the United States, hails from St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad). “The ex-criminal who became one of Russia’s most powerful men is the pure product of an underworld of security militias, spies, intelligence officials, mafia bosses and ex-cons.” Prigozhin used to entertain Putin, who once worked in the administration of the city of St. Petersburg, at his restaurant – which is why he is nicknamed “Putin’s cook”.
5,000 mercenaries
A total of around 5,000 fighters are active for Wagner today. Contract killer Gabidullin, who was paid up to 3,000 euros a month, was also one of them until 2019. In his book on the horrors of war, which is largely like a report from the front, he complains about poor weaponry, mistakes in conduct of battles and the sometimes extremely brutal behavior of the completely brutalized Wagner people.
Gabidullin himself justifies his openness to the public on the grounds that he sees Putin’s war in Ukraine as a mistake. He never wanted to fight a sister nation. But readers shouldn’t expect remorse. Gabidullin uses the book to justify himself. And he asks for official recognition of fighters from Private Military Companies (PMC).
“War Workers”
The Russian military often adorns itself with successes that mercenaries would have achieved in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia in Syria. These deserve a place in the history books, demands Gabidullin: “This new structure in Russia will still need a long time to prove that it is not a mixture of outsiders and riffraff, but an organization made up of true professionals – the war workers.”