The pro-Russian leader of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Serguey Aksyonov, created his own private army to fight in Ukraine with the help of Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin, an independent portal of the Russian press reported this Friday.
“It is Aksyonov’s private army, but all its commanders are former members of the [Grupo] Wagner. Everyone has known each other for a long time.”told the portal Vazhniye Istorii (Important Stories, in free translation) a dissident of the new paramilitary group called “Konvoy”.
According to the portal, it is a “relatively new” paramilitary formation, which created a channel on the Telegram social network in November 2022.
The Vazhniye Istorii portal recalled that the leader of Crimea, imposed by the Russian authorities, referred to “Konvoy” in a local television program at the beginning of this month, then indicated that the group consists of agents “who have already experienced everything , that they have various awards and whose commander has the Order of Merit of Hero of Russia”.
The commander of the new group of mercenaries, according to the portal, Konstantin Pikalov, also known as “Mazai”, has been recognized as Prigozhin’s “right hand” and coordinator of the Wagner Group in Africa.
On the Telegram platform, “Konvoy” published photos of Aksyonov in a group training, where the level of preparation of the army is measured, and stated that by the summer the mercenaries “will be in shape.”
Formally, “Konvoy” consists of Russian army reservists who sign two contracts, one with the private militia and the other with the Russian Defense Ministry, said the former member of the new paramilitary group, who asked for anonymity.
Each member of Aksyonov’s private army, the source added, receives a monthly salary of about 200,000 rubles (about $2,410), while commanders earn about 300,000 rubles (3,620 euros).
The former militia added that “Konvoy” guarantees its members the payment of an additional amount in case they are injured in combat “whether in Crimea or Abkhazia” and compensation for the family in case they die in combat . In both situations, they must have served for more than a year.
Initially, according to the same source, this paramilitary group had about 300 members, it is not known whether the total number of operators increased.
“Konvoy” is not in hiding, as earlier this month it invited a journalist from the official Russian channel VGTRK, Olga Kurlaeva, to supervise its operations, after stressing that “all equipment is new” and that the militiamen “are up to teeth armed”.
“Supply, food, equipment and weapons are paid for with private funds obtained by the leader of Crimea,” reported Kurlaeva, according to whom the paramilitary group has “T-80” and “T-90” tanks, as well as radar . .
“We were given body armor, helmets, goggles, gloves, backpacks, in general, everything. Three pieces of equipment,” added the portal’s source Vazhniye Istorii, who did not explain the reason for leaving the group.
The headquarters of “Konvoy” is located in the city of Perevanoye, Crimea, according to information that the portal was able to obtain through one of the group’s “chats”.
However, the mercenaries are stationed in the area of the Ukrainian region of Kherson, under the control of the Russian army.
Source: DN
