“Vagner PMC” History 24.08.2023
"We know that we will end up in hell, but in hell we will be the best!"
(c) Evgeny Prigozhin.
"Why did I write this now? Recently, a well-known scumbag (Marat Musin - note by D.E.), after another trolling, hinted that in case of a revolution in Russia (Apparently, the scumbag hasn't grown enough to deal with people without revolutions) he would treat me according to the laws of wartime. In other words, he would simply kill me. So, this post is not addressed to the "general public" for trolling the parasites, just for a laugh, but specifically to the system. Either it deals with the despicable scumbag and his company for their specific actions, or we can expect many more interesting and exciting events. Well, you understand."
(c) Dmitrii Ershov, September 2013.
It so happened that I had to take part in the process when the creation of the structure now known as the Vagner Private Military Company (PMC) was only being discussed. And at that time, neither Dmitry Utkin nor Evgeny Prigozhin were anywhere near it. Here's the story...
It was the height of the "Arab Spring" in Syria. I flew to Damascus in early December 2012 to understand the situation on the ground. It happened that I was a co-author of the "ANNA-News" project in 2011, and this project was the only one working in Syria at that time. The project was funded and supervised by the Syrian Ambassador to Moscow, Riad Haddad (formerly the head of the political department of the Syrian army), and his brother Jihad Haddad worked as a translator for the project. Marat Musin was the head of the project. Musin managed to enter Syria and develop the project thanks to the patronage of Leonid Ivashov and Sergey Baburin. At the time, I insisted on an independent project. But I failed to lobby for it, and I had to work with Musin. As a result, in Syria, I was involved in administrating all of "ANNA-News" and essentially put under house arrest, as Marat Musin was extremely uninterested in allowing me to work according to the previously agreed plan, much to the surprise of the Syrian side.
As for the private military company (PMC), sometime around February 2013, serious organizations became interested in the activities of "ANNA-News." As I understand it, people interested in withdrawing Syrian businessmen's capital to offshores and creating a PMC approached Marat Musin. I don't know what happened with the capital withdrawal, but the creation of the PMC was discussed in my presence. The task of this PMC was supposed to be the protection (and seizure from the militants' control) of oil fields in Syria. Marat Musin also saw the creation of this PMC as a tool for a military coup in Russia, and this was openly discussed in Syria. By the way, around that time, a "right-wing oligarch" Konstantin Malofeev began financing "ANNA-News" (or rather, Musin). During such conversations, along with me, a well-known "war correspondent" - marauder Andrey Filatov, as well as Vasily Pavlov and Jihad Haddad, were also present.
When I had a conflict with Marat Musin in May 2013, in June 2013, during negotiations with the FSB (Federal Security Service), I directly justified the need to shut down the "ANNA-News" project, including due to the threat of establishing PMC not under state control. I provided an analysis on this issue to the 2nd Service of the FSB of Russia and the Department of Military Counterintelligence. Similarly, during the summer of 2013, I repeatedly spoke with the representative of Syrian intelligence, Anas Mosahen, and explained the whole situation to him. The "ANNA-News" project was not shut down, and an information war began against me, actively supported by the Governor of the Pskov Region at the time, Andrey Turchak. I was very surprised by this, and only in February 2022, I understood the real factors behind his actions of such a kind. But what we see next...
In August 2013, recruitment of militants began under the auspices of the "Moran Security Group." From them, the so-called "Slavic Corps" was formed, which took part in hostilities in Syria and was defeated. I have material on this topic entitled "And Again Syria! And Again Musin!" In addition to Riad Haddad, the "Slavic Corps" was also financed by Konstantin Malofeev, and in 2014, many fighters from the "Slavic Corps" participated in the annexation of Crimea and terrorist attacks in the Southeast of Ukraine. Dmitry Utkin was among them. Furthermore, in late April 2013, General Gennady Tendetnik, a retired FSB officer, who was once connected to terrorist Igor Girkin in the Service for the Protection of the Constitutional System and Counterterrorism of the FSB of Russia, was supposed to fly to Syria in my place. As far as I know, he did not visit Syria due to certain issues. Perhaps the protest against his visit was raised by the Syrian or Iranian side because of Tendetnik's family ties to the US Department of Defense.
As I understand it, Evgeny Prigozhin appeared in Dmitry Utkin's project only in 2014 and acted as a "mediator" between Vagner PMC fighters and high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Defense, military intelligence, and the FSB. At the time of Prigozhin's arrival, Utkin had a group of "experienced" fighters who had already been in Syria, Crimea, and Donbass, from which this whole PMC was later formed. The goals of the PMC, as I understand it, were the same as those declared in Damascus.
After 2014, Vagner PMC started to be used as a Russian "proxy" for the protection of the business interests of certain Russian forces in Syria, CAR, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Libya, Venezuela, and Sudan. The geography is extensive, and the list of individuals is also long. It includes Sergey Chemezov, Anatoly and Andrey Turchak, Yuri and Mikhail Kovalchuk, Igor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska, and many others. Sergey Chemezov has always reacted most painfully to any connections with Vagner PMC. At one point, a certain media show was even staged to eliminate any suspicions, allegedly involving extortion of money from Chemezov by bloggers affiliated with the media holding "Patriot" (in the end, some bloggers associated with Ksenia Sobchak, who actually wrote something against Chemezov, were found guilty). And in terms of the level of influence, it looks something like if a journalist from "Hog's News" attacked someone like Patrushev. And there are reasons for this.
As for Sergey Chemezov, he is de facto the number two figure in terms of influence in the Ministry of Defense, after the Shoygu-Gerasimov duo, and, in essence, acts as the "shadow minister of defense industry." Chemezov didn't have good relations with Shoygu and Gerasimov, to put it mildly. Now guess who such personalities as Mikhail Mizintsev and Sergey Surovikin are affiliated with, both of whom also underwent "training" in Syria?
Evgeny Prigozhin also participated in the media attack on the Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Beglov, and Andrey Turchak planned to take Beglov's position, as he is also connected to Prigozhin's business interests. Meanwhile, the business of the Turchak family is practically affiliated with "Rostec."
In conclusion, we have the facts that Vagner PMC essentially served as a military "proxy" for "Rostec" and a number of representatives of the Russian elite to ensure their business interests in different regions of the world. Syria, Libya, and other African countries - defense contracts for "Rostec" and control of mineral deposits. Venezuela - oil and Igor Sechin. Guinea - bauxite of Oleg Deripaska. And so on. Dmitry Utkin, a professional military intelligence officer, created and led the structure, and all questions regarding contacts with the elites and material support were solved by Evgeny Prigozhin. Thus, Vagner PMC "trained" thousands of fighters over these years.
Vagner PMC was initially created to organize a military coup in Russia, and this coup would have taken place in June 2023 if Evgeny Prigozhin had not pulled back 200 kilometers from Moscow. What actually happened and who influenced Prigozhin so much, or if he was inherently a "deceptive" element from the FSB, I do not know. But on August 23, 2023, the leadership of Vagner PMC was demonstratively executed, Surovikin has not been heard from since, and many other interesting things are happening. Although they could have just listened to me in June 2013 and shut down all of "ANNA-News." And most likely, nothing like this would have happened.
P.S.: And a question specifically for the FSB and Sraniy Turchak: "By the way, how did you like the interesting and exciting events of the last 10 years?! Did you enjoy them? Well, this is just the beginning.)))".
Dmitrii Ershov
Tags: Dmitry Utkin | Evgeny Prigozhin | Global Politics | Rostec | Vagner PMC