1. Union of fascists with recidivists.

Roma was killed, but the people, the cadres that he put forward are still alive. One of them whom Roma left us as a keepsake is Putin's chef Prigozhin. He could not have gotten so close to Putin and Zolotov if Tsepov had not helped. As the saying goes, the person died, but his work lives on.

4. Forces of special machinations.

In general, as you understand, Putin's chef is a person with a rich biography. And in 2000-2001. she made another zigzag: Prigozhin left from under the roof of Misha Kutaissky and went over to Tsepov-Zolotov. And soon he completely fell into Putin's inner circle.

After this, the affairs of our hero went uphill sharply. From a middle-class restaurateur, he turned into a supplier of ready-made meals for schools and military units for huge sums. But at some point even this seemed not enough. And somewhere in 2012, Prigogine began to be attracted for a non-core (non-kitchen) business.

At first it was a project to clog the Internet with Putin's propaganda. With Prigozhin's money (ie from the budget), the famous troll factory in Olgino appeared in St. Petersburg, which then moved to 55 Savushkina, then to the Lakhta-2 business center, and so on.

Petersburg, business center "Lakhta-2" on the street Optics, 4. Most of Putin's comments on social networks are written here.

In addition to this factory for writing comments, in 2014 there was also the "Federal News Agency" (FAN) - a group of sites that spread Putin's and GB-shny nonsense on the Internet under the guise of news. From the series: “The USA is in a panic over our new fighter. The Russophobes of the State Department have strangled themselves with laces. " True, they overdid it, and in 2017 Google threw out all FAN sites from Google News, along with the archive for all the years. But Yandex News continues to give out this Prigozhin garbage in batches.

And finally, since 2014, Prigozhin began to participate not only in informational wars, but also in real wars of the Putin regime - in eastern Ukraine, Wagner's PMC received the baptism of fire. And in the fall of 2015, she was transferred to Syria.

Moscow, 2016 The commanders of the Wagner PMC in the Kremlin. Judging by the Russian press, in Lugansk Utkin liked to go out wearing a Wehrmacht helmet. In the image that is. It is strange that he did not wear it to the Kremlin. Still, a meeting with the Fuhrer.

The one to the left of Putin is Andrei Troshev ("Gray"), Utkin's deputy at the PMC. A former paratrooper, then he served in the SOBR. According to Russian media reports, in June 2017 he was found on the street in St. Petersburg in a state of "severe alcoholic intoxication", taken to the hospital. I had 5 million rubles with me, some maps of Syria, papers for the Wagner PMC. I almost drank the military secret, in short.

Another participant of the reception in the Kremlin is Ratibor, aka Alexander Kuznetsov. This is a major from the "Senezh" center in Solnechnogorsk ("sunflowers", special operations forces of the Ministry of Defense). In 2008, Major Ratibor sat for robbery and kidnapping. In 2013, he miraculously got out of prison and became a mercenary.

It is noteworthy that in the same place in Solnechnogorsk, where the "sunflowers" grow, the private security company "Stealth" is now based, about which Litvinenko once wrote. The private security company was established in the 1990s. jointly with the FSB and the Izmaylovo organized criminal group to commit contract killings - for hire and by order of the Motherland. Special forces fighters were involved in the private security company. The office was a living symbol of the merger of the FSB and the mafia - it was no longer possible to determine where one ended and another began.

The PSC Stealth was founded by FSB Colonel Lutsenko (he still works there), and General Khokholkov (“Yeltsin Sudoplatov”) was his curator in the 1990s. The general also covered the heroin trade, and the PSC was his help in the showdown. In short, the special operations forces (lads with the Chekists).

Returning to the Wagner PMC, it is worth noting that it also arose on the basis of the under-roof office of the special services: the backbone of Wagner PMC was formed back in 2013 as part of a security company Moran Security Group headed by Putin's KGB colleague Vyacheslav Kalashnikov.

Moran is a firm that has been recruiting mercenaries since 2010 to guard sea-going ships abroad (including those carrying contraband). It was to Kalashnikov in "Moran" that Utkin first went, quitting the army in 2013. Major Kuznetsov (Ratibor) also began his career there as a mercenary after leaving prison, and many others.

Lieutenant Colonel of the FSB Vyacheslav Kalashnikov from Petersburg. The person who selected the key personnel for the Wagner PMC:

In 2013, the first (unsuccessful) attempt was made through the Kalashnikov firm to send mercenaries to Syria for land operations. They gathered a small unit (267 people), with the loud name "Slavic Corps", and sent to fight for Assad. However, without air and artillery support, the mercenaries could not fight, in the first battle they fled and were sent back to Russia.

This detachment included Utkin and the future command staff of Wagner PMC. The first pancake came out lumpy, but in 2014 they were remembered again, creating a new, larger bandit formation, which went to fight on a grand scale - in Ukraine, again in Syria, etc. And the lackey cook was brought in to pay for all this (from the budget money in the end, so it's not a pity).

The history of secret Russian mercenaries.

Oleg served in Syria in a military unit that did not officially exist on paper, but which was known as the "Wagner Group" or "musicians", fought on the side of the Syrian pro-government forces and was formed from experienced fighters by order of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Oleg took part in the battles for the liberation of Palmyra. His salary was 4,500 euros per month plus bonuses.
Russia launched a military operation in civil war-torn Syria just over a year ago - on September 30, 2015. A lot has changed since then. If at that time the Assad house was kept by a hair's breadth from death, then after Russian intervention the loyalists managed to recapture Palmyra from the Islamic State and win a crushing victory in Aleppo.

All these successes of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), pretty battered in the heat of war, would have been unthinkable without the support of Russia. It carries out air and missile strikes against opponents of government forces, supplies weapons and trains some units.

Officially, there are no fighters in the Russian contingent who do the "dirty work" - the people of the "Wagner group". Such a unit or private military company does not formally exist. But this is on paper. In reality, the Russians managed to fight in different parts of Syria both against the Islamic State and against the "greens" - various groups that are considered moderate opposition in the West.

When asked why Oleg went to Syria, he replies: “I was a hired worker, and I don’t care about this war at all. I like this job, if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t work there”.

Oleg is not worried that he might be called a hired killer: "That's right, I went for money. Maybe it's easier, really?" If you meet him on the street, you will not recognize him as a soldier of fortune - Hollywood cliches do not work. A regular guy. A merry fellow, whose eyes are welling with tears when he remembers his fallen comrades.

New Slavic Corps

The Wagner Group is no ordinary private military company. This is a miniature army. “We had a complete set: mortars, howitzers, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers,” explains Oleg.

In some circles, the unit's fighters are called musicians: the unit commander allegedly chose a call sign in honor of the German composer Richard Wagner. According to some reports, 47-year-old lieutenant colonel Dmitry Utkin is hiding behind this call sign. He served in special forces in Pechory. This is not the first time in Syria - before that, he officially worked as part of a private military company known as the Slavic Corps.

The company was hired by Syrian tycoons to guard the oil fields and columns in Deir ez-Zor. However, in October 2013 in the city of Al-Suhna, the guards got into serious trouble: they entered into an unequal battle with the jihadists of the Islamic State. "The participants told me, an enchanting battle, almost an oncoming battle for the city. Almost with two thousand militants against two hundred or three hundred guards," - says Oleg.

After these events, the contract between the customer and the guards broke down. According to Oleg, they did not agree on the payment: the "Syrian bigwigs" refused to pay extra for more dangerous work and began to threaten the Russians. The Slavic Corps left Syria.

The Wagner Group has another, more serious customer - the RF Ministry of Defense (RF Ministry of Defense). Before being transferred to Syria in the fall of 2015, the "musicians" underwent a three-month training at the Molkino training ground in the immediate vicinity of the base of a separate special forces brigade of the Main Intelligence Directorate.

The Wagner Group got to Syria by plane. And these were not Aeroflot airliners, says Oleg, smiling. The fighters were transported on transport aircraft of the 76th Airborne Division, which is stationed in the Pskov region.

"The Pskov aircraft took us. From Molkino by buses to Moscow: we received passports. From there to Chkalovskiy, from Chkalovskiy to Mozdok by plane. Two hours for refueling and maintenance. And another five-hour flight: over the Caspian Sea, Iran, Iraq and landing on the base of Khmeimim. Turkey does not allow it - it is not possible directly, "the fighter explains. After their arrival, they were accommodated in the city's sports complex, which Oleg chose not to name.

Equipment, including artillery and tanks, was transported by sea using the so-called "Syrian Express" - on the ships of the Russian Navy from Novorossiysk to Tartus. It is known from various sources that the group was sent to Syria twice: for a short period in the fall of 2015 and to participate in a longer operation in the winter and spring of next year. Each trip is a separate contract.

Typically, Wagner's people are experienced fighters who have gone through several conflicts. And although you won't see recruitment advertisements in the newspapers, the group had no problems recruiting specialists.

Oleg admits that he didn’t go to Wagner the first time - he didn’t trust: “Practically, they get on an acquaintance and nothing else. There is no free set as such. ".

Among the Wagnerites there are quite a few of those who fought in the Donbass on the side of the separatists. They undergo an additional polygraph test. They may even ask if they are FSB agents - the special services in Wagner do not favor. The group has its own security department that fights information leaks. Finding photos of Russian condottieri on the Internet is a great success. This is a misdemeanor that entails serious sanctions for the offenders.

In Syria, fighters were paid 300,000 rubles (about 4,500 euros) per month, plus bonuses. There was also a kind of insurance system: about 300,000 rubles for injury and coverage of treatment costs in high-quality clinics. For the death - five million rubles to the family. Although from a legal point of view, the contract with the Wagner group is an insignificant piece of paper, Oleg confirms: they paid everything to the last penny and even more. But there is no talk of complete safety.

That is, do you have at least some kind of protection?
- From what?
- From the state.
- From the state, I think not.

Gone is the fierce hell

The civil war in Syria is merciless - the interests of many countries are intertwined here. Hundreds of factions with varying motivations are fighting on both sides of the front, but none can be denied brutality. Why does Russia need this stupid war, Oleg prefers not to think. “I haven’t seen smart wars yet,” he retorts.

According to Oleg, a predominantly secular lifestyle reigns in government-controlled territories. A woman in a burqa is very rare, although many wear a hijab. In the liberated areas of Latakia, the local population is more likely for Assad.

"In Latakia, there are portraits of Assad and Hafez Assad, the president's father. But locals do not show the relationship. This is a civil war - you are either for or against. If you try to be neutral, then you will most likely feel bad," Oleg describes.

The locals treat Russians well, and the Syrian military almost idolizes. "We are Russians for them. You see, they are very glad that the Russians have arrived. Finally, they think, I can sit down and drink mate again, let the Russians fight," says Oleg, smiling. They were dancing there all night in the squares, shooting into the air with joy. But how upset they were when we left! "

The once prosperous Murek, after the departure of the Russian "musicians", the Syrians left. The years of war have depleted the manpower reserves of the Syrian Arab Army. Coupled with a lack of fighting spirit and military training, only individual units remain combat-ready: "Firstly, they have no training: they cannot even shoot. Secondly, they have a terrifying attitude towards weapons: they do not even clean them."

This is largely why, according to various sources, the Wagner Group was used as a fire brigade - it operated where it was most difficult and, with the exception of the operation near Palmyra, in small groups.

“We have always been where there was the most garbage, the very hell. All that I saw was the most fierce hell, - Oleg does not hide his disdainful attitude towards the Syrian militias and the military, which, according to him, cannot be distinguished. - God forbid, have such allies. Because they always do the ***. Always. "

In Latakia, due to the inaction of the Syrians, the "Wagner group" suffered significant losses. Oleg retells the circumstances of that battle he heard from his colleagues with poorly concealed irritation. On that day, the Russians were supposed to cover the Syrian attack on the mountain and suppress enemy firing points on neighboring heights. After the end of the artillery preparation, the Syrians refused to go into the attack. The Wagner group had to take over the job. The ascent to the mountain went without incident, but at the top point the Russians were under fire from three sides.

"The mountain is completely naked. If you are not in the trench, the end is. The wounded appear, they need to be evacuated. How many people are leaving? At least two are dragging, others are covering. The path along which the guys were climbing turned out to be under fire - you cannot go. I had to go down the mined slope." , - says Oleg.

Wagner's soldiers lost about twenty people wounded that day and not a single one killed.

The Russians tried to rouse the allies to attack by force - they jumped into their trenches and shot at their feet, but they did not budge. "And the Syrians did not stop firing at the height. It turns out they were shooting our ass. It was hell," Oleg complains.

According to him, in the fall, the "Wagner Group" lost about 15 people killed. Half of them in one day: from a burst of ammunition in a campground. What it was, Oleg does not know, there were versions about a mortar mine or an American bomb. In winter and spring, the losses were greater, but he could not give exact figures.

This is not the only reason why Oleg dislikes government forces. "They steal everything that is not nailed down. They drag everything: pipes, wiring, even tore off the tiles. I saw how they took the toilet," he explains. Oleg did not hear about the punishments for looting from the Syrians.

Fought for Palmyra

However, Oleg does not have a high opinion of "babakhs" either - that is how the armed opposition is called, which is considered moderate in the West. According to him, the concept of the Free Syrian Army should be understood as hundreds of groups, including Islamist ones, which periodically fight each other for territory: "They also need to eat something." Although he admits: "Greens are different."

"Turkomans are good guys. Good, I respect them. They fight desperately because they are fighting for their villages. If they leave the village, everyone leaves. They are completely different people. It would be beneficial for the Syrians to oust them from Latakia completely. - he states.

In 2016, the Wagner Group was united and transferred under Palmyra to fight the Islamic State. If in the fall there were about 600 mercenaries in Syria, then in the winter and spring their number doubled. “It was easier near Palmyra, because we were all packed into a heap and we were performing one integral task,” says Oleg.

According to him, there were no battles in the city as such. In difficult battles, "Wagner's group" occupied all important heights, after which the jihadists simply left the devastated city: "There is a highway behind the ridge. Ours took out tanks and began to destroy everything that moved along it. We pressed a bunch of cars. Then they drove for trophies." ...

ISIS have established themselves as fanatical fighters: they sow terror among Iraqis and Syrians alike. Oleg points out that Islamists from Europe are probably fighting well, but they have not encountered such. “Blacks” are also different. They have local militias: a soldier has a machine gun and nothing else. Such a "black" cannot fight either. There was a case. The observers reported that unknown people arrived in cars, lined up in a wedge, and were walking towards us. They were covered with artillery, no one fired from a machine gun - they all were put down, "he recalls.

However, there are obvious advantages on the side of the Islamists: "They are very literate. Ours occupied the ridge, but they left Palmyra: they did not arrange Stalingrad. Why is it necessary - they kept the people and retreated. And now they are constantly acting with small injections, constantly attacking the Syrians."

After completing the task, Wagner's group left the city. The laurels of the victors went to the Syrian troops, who entered the empty city. However, the government troops won the victory won by the Russians: on December 11, 2016, the Islamists recaptured Palmyra.

The fall of this city is an eloquent confirmation that despite all the recent successes, the war is still far from over. Assad's supporters are not able to act everywhere - they lack strength and specialists. And not only at the front: the "Wagner Group" was used, among other things, for the repair of equipment.

"There is a huge armored plant in Hama. Before our guys arrived, the Syrians were repairing two tanks a month. When our guys arrived, they immediately began to issue 30 tanks a month. They worked from morning to evening: they were not even allowed into the city, the poor. They worked hard like slaves - in the evening they fell without legs. All of us left, but these repairmen remained there, "Oleg recalls, laughing.

The Wagner Group was withdrawn from Syria at the end of spring this year. The last operation of the Russians was the cleanup of the vicinity of the airport near Palmyra. "Among the palms and a labyrinth of stone fences," the mercenary says.

Since then, there have been no signs of the participation of Russian condottieri in this war. After the liberation of Palmyra, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation held a concert in the ancient amphitheater of the city. We played music by Prokofiev. It is quite possible that musicians may appear in this city again. Only these will be "musicians" with automatic weapons - the ghostly "Wagner group".

Oleg is ready: "Of course I will. At least I will go to Africa, Lord. In general, it does not matter where, I really like this work."

"The Syrians and ours decided to seize the plant from the Kurds in the area where the Americans work."

The media are full of reports about the soldiers of the Wagner private military company (PMC) killed by the Americans in Syria. At the same time, the numbers are called the most diverse. We contacted those who are related to PMC Wagner to clarify the circumstances of the incident.

Our first interlocutor, one of the field commanders in the Donbass, said about the total losses of the convoy, the majority of which were Syrians: "According to my information, there were over a hundred of them." He told MK that only two of his former fighters were among the dead. "Two. They left for Syria back in 2015. When everything calmed down here. No, I would not say that only because of money. They believed that they were going to defend the Russian world on the outskirts of our sphere of influence. So write: died for their homeland and for the idea. "

Another source of ours, located directly in Syria, explained:

The Syrians and ours decided to seize the plant from the Kurds in the area where the Americans work. There were three companies of private traders and a Syrian militia. The first line of Kurds and Americans was demolished pretty quickly, too easily. Then aviation, drones and turntables flew in, and they were threshed for four hours. (According to another version, the shot column counterattacked the fighters of the ISIS banned in Russia, who began to retreat towards the CONOCO oil refinery, where the secret US base was allegedly located at the same time - "MK").

The source named a total of 40 people killed and 72 injured (meaning, again, mostly Syrians).

I don't understand what they were counting on - he was surprised - with some Kalash they climbed on the Americans. But this was a purely commercial topic. It has nothing to do with the war ...

Help "MK": what is the CONOCO plant

"An oil refinery located in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor near a large oil and gas field. The CONOCO field was once discovered by the Americans, and it was with their money that a refinery was built there (it was also called" El Isba "). The plant was nationalized by the regime Bashar al-Assad.

Then he was under the control of the ISIS banned in Russia, and in September last year he was recaptured by the Kurds. In October, according to some reports, after negotiations with the Kurdish side, through the mediation of Russia, the plant was transferred under the control of the Syrian government. Russian commercial structures took part in the restoration of the plant. However, then the situation changed: control over the plant again passed to the Kurds, who let the Americans in there. It was reported that the SDF ("Syrian Democratic Forces", which includes, in particular, Kurdish groups), were not invited to the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue in Sochi - Turkey objected to this. The SDF is now targeting Americans. "

Syrian television aired a story about the losses during the operations of the coalition aviation. Among the dead, a Syrian brigadier general named Yusuf Aisha Haider and several other high-ranking military personnel were named. The Syrians talked about a hundred killed and wounded, without mentioning, however, the PMC in any way.

So far, several names of the dead combatants from Russia are being named - Aleksey Ladygin from Ryazan, Stanislav Matveev and Igor Kosoturov from the city of Asbest in the Sverdlovsk region, Vladimir Loginov from Kaliningrad. The former National Bolshevik Kirill Ananiev, who had fought in the Donbas before Syria, was also killed.

Since there is still no information about hundreds of corpses among PMC mercenaries, many experts agree that there are really only a few people among them who died. The other numerous victims are Syrians, who, according to some sources, were part of the ISIS HUNTER group. This special unit is mostly composed of Syrian Christians. They mainly specialize in protecting and protecting government facilities in the desert regions of the country. However, now they are involved in the liberation of gas and oil fields, as well as to protect ammunition depots. In the city of Al-Suqailabiya, several dozen funerals of the dead ISIS Hunter fighters took place, there are also photographs from the cemetery ...

There is still no law on private military companies in Russia, everything they do is only at their own peril and risk. They are usually hired by government agencies, and a business contract is concluded with them. The early combatants may have been delusional that they were sent to the Middle East to fight. “My contract, for example, stated that I was going to guard communications and oil rigs. And immediately he got into an assault battalion, "one of the mercenaries told MK. Now there are no illusions - they go to fight and, if anything, to die, for this they are paid. This special unit is mostly composed of Syrian Christians. They mainly specialize in protecting and protecting government facilities in the desert regions of the country. However, now they are involved in the liberation of gas and oil fields, as well as the protection of ammunition depots.

The average salary of a mercenary is from 150,000 to 200,000 rubles a month. It depends on what organization he was hired through - the more intermediaries, PMC subcontractors, the lower the prices. But in principle, no one is deceived - there is a lot of word of mouth among the mercenaries, everyone knows each other at least through someone, and if they cheat one, then no one else will go.

During their stay in a training camp near Rostov-on-Don, lifting equipment is also issued - 2-3 thousand rubles per day. Our Russians and Ukrainians from Donbass are considered a good acquisition for PMCs, since "they don't ask for much and usually serve conscientiously."

https: //www.site/2018-03-05/kak_vyglyadit_lager_chvk_vagnera_v_krasnodare

“Everyone is lying, son, they are sharing oil! They earn money on the blood of the guys "

What the camp of PMC Wagner looks like near Krasnodar

Igor Pushkarev

Krasnodar is far from the war zones in southeastern Ukraine or Syria. But here is probably the most famous private military organization in Russia now - Wagner PMC, whose fighters have been noted in Crimea, Donbass and Syria in just a few years.

The RBC magazine wrote in the summer of 2016 that the PMC's camp was based near the Molkino farm, which is 30 kilometers south of Krasnodar along the M-4 Don highway. The journalists of the publication got to the village and talked with the servicemen of the 10th brigade of the GRU of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation at the first checkpoint. What is happening behind him, whether the Wagner PMC camp actually exists and what it looks like - all this remained unknown ..

You can get from Krasnodar to Molkino by bus that goes from the bus station towards the regional center Goryachiy Klyuch, or by taxi. In one case, the tariff is 80 rubles, in the other - "ruble", that is, 1 thousand rubles. Actually, Molkino itself is a pair of two-story brick apartment buildings, several private ones, one street - Officer Street and one grocery store with a very modest range of goods. The checkpoint of the 10th brigade of the GRU is located a hundred meters from the village, on the other side of the M-4 Don highway and the railway, which runs parallel to the autobahn.

Traffic around the checkpoint is quite busy. Some cars are constantly driving in and out, people in civilian clothes and uniforms walk back and forth. Most of them rush to the left - where the asphalt road goes and where the actual military unit of the Ministry of Defense is located. By the way, at the local training ground, judging by open sources, “Tank Biathlon” is regularly held, as well as games of reenactors.

The Wagner PMC's camp, as far as we know from the publication of RBC, is in the opposite direction.

“You see, the primer goes off to the right. Walk along it, you will pass another checkpoint and further, there they are, ”the soldiers admonished me at the first checkpoint. At first, I must confess, no one wanted to let the stranger in my face. But the phrase "to Syria" seems to have a magical effect here. At the "second checkpoint" another GRU soldier is guarded. Just like his colleagues at the main checkpoint, he is armed with a bayonet-knife, from equipment - a bulletproof vest and a helmet. But he almost does not pay attention to those passing by. Sitting quietly on a chair in the booth, listening to the radio and drinking tea and cookies.

It takes about 10 minutes to walk to the Wagner camp, about a kilometer. I met a young man in civilian clothes with a camouflage backpack over his shoulders and wearing headphones, a couple of cars with people in uniform, but without insignia. About 200 meters before the camp, the road makes a sharp left turn. From here, you can clearly see two-story houses, clad with light green siding, with green roofs, a lattice fence around the perimeter and a parking lot with a dozen parked cars in front of the gate.

- Is this the Wagner brigade? - I ask the man who gets behind the wheel of the "tens".

- Yes, here. There's a checkpoint, - he pointed to the gate in the fence.

Along the perimeter, by the way, there are video cameras, but they are all facing inward, not outward, with the lenses. Apparently, no one is afraid of any outside action, and it is much more important to control what is happening inside the camp.

There are three houses. As it turned out a little later, these are barracks. Judging by their appearance, the buildings are quite fresh. A little further off, stacks of planks of fresh, whitish-yellow wood can be seen. It seems that despite in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, no one is going to curtail their activities here. On the contrary, the camp is planned to be completed further.

Near the barracks, in several groups, there are about two dozen men. Their affiliation is difficult to establish. All are wearing a mixture of military and civilian clothing. There are several cars - two UAZ and Toyota pickups, as well as a blue-painted all-wheel drive KamAZ - "shift". On the fence there are signs warning that the facility is secure and is under video surveillance.

I open the gate and go to the green trailer, where the guard is sitting. In front of me is a man in green paint and again without insignia. Once again I try to make sure I got there: "Is the Wagner brigade here?" In response - only a nod and a counter question: "What did you want?" I catch a tenacious, studying look on me.

Initially, it was clear that I - a journalist - would not be welcome here. Posing as someone who wants to serve under a contract is also problematic: I don't look too much like a military man.

But since I got here, I'm trying to find out at least the fate of those whose names sounded in the list of those killed on February 7. In the end, it is still unknown whether these people are alive, missing or killed. My interlocutor, with the words "tell me who you need to know, bro," writes down the names on a simple piece of paper. A second later, another Wagnerian appears behind me. I can't hear the steps, I guess about the second only from the facial expressions of the first, the one in the booth. I leave my contact phone number and retreat. I suppose that immediately after I left, the leaflet with the list of surnames ended up in the trash can.

On the way back I meet another one with a duffel bag over his shoulders. I am trying to talk, but I only managed to find out that tomorrow we are going to be sent, so today there is something like a day in the camp. They give you the opportunity to rest a little, put yourself in order. However, very quickly this interlocutor calculates that he is by no means a potential colleague. The look becomes cold, the conversation ends abruptly. I am returning to Molkino.

Google maps

The street is deserted. After some time, I managed to talk with one of the residents of the village, an elderly man. The interlocutor introduced himself as Alexander (the name has been changed for his safety. - Approx. Site). He is a former military man, now he constantly lives in the village, contacts and even continues to "work" (he did not specify exactly how) with the servicemen of the military unit. He regularly intersects with the Wagnerians. According to him, they appeared in Molkino about 5 years ago, "even before Ukraine." In the first year, none of the locals even suspected the existence of this special detachment. Only then did the information begin to somehow leak out.

- Why can't the "Wagnerians" tell their relatives anything, even send some news?

- They won't say anything. This is such a company that there is a complete *** (end), there is nothing to learn. Even I live and work here with them, but I still don't know much. They have everything in such a way that no one should tell anything. You talk to them, and they pretend that they don't know anything, they don't understand anything about what you are talking about. Although you open the Internet - and everything is shown: how they were covered, how many cars, how many things. And I even know the guys who were right there in the epicenter.

Ryazan diocese website

- What they're saying?

- You can't tell that, especially to mothers. The heart will only be ripped off. Better to hope and wait than that. They don't need to know all this, you know ?! It is only in Moscow that they say that ours were not there. 87 people killed there and many more missing - more than 100 people.

- Missing?

- Without a trace. They were torn to pieces right there, the meat was collected in the field and sent here.

- Where did you send it to?

- To Rostov (meaning Rostov-on-Don. - Note .. They will now restore who is who using tokens and DNA.

- How long will it take?

- O! For a long time. If no one from the house is interested, they will remain silent. It is beneficial for them - they do not have to pay.

Jaromir Romanov

- How much are they paid?

- First, they paid 5 million for the deceased, now they have reduced it. I heard that they are only giving 3 million each.

- Have the wounded been brought here too?

- This time also to Rostov and St. Petersburg. Half there, half here.

- Have you ever heard of such people, what happened to them: Alexey Shikhov, Ruslan Gavrilov, Kirill Ananiev, Igor Kosoturov, Alexey Lodygin, Stanislav Matveyev? (All of them appeared in various lists of the victims previously published by the media. - Note site).

- Nobody knows anyone here by their last names. Only nicknames, callsigns. They are all "Fox", then "Boar", then hell knows who.

- They and the documents, go, they all hand over there when they arrive?

- All surrender. Passports, certificates - everything is complete. They are given tokens, and only by them are they identified later. There are now up to *** (many) of these tokens this time collected. Now they will analyze it all. But the fact is that no one went prisoner. (Pronounces with pride.)

- They were hollowed out from the air.

- Our first started. There, first, their artillery, that is, ours, *** (hit) the Kurds. And the Kurds walk under the Americans. They also warned that stop. And ours - no, ***! They also need to take this oil refinery plant away. So we got it. First, the American artillery completely covered our artillery, completely destroyed it. And then their drones flew in and started bombing. First, the entire area was cleared out with bombs and leveled. Then they started with helicopters. Those who just moved were immediately finished off. That's the whole story. How many young boys have died, where are they going, *** where ?!

- Well, Assad called on Russia for help?

- We need this *** (bad) Kurdistan, or what? For whom did they fight off this oil refinery, for Putin? These *** are completely lying to us! What the TV says is a complete lie! Bastards! Nobody beats any Russians anywhere, son, they divide oil. These *** are earning money on the blood of the guys! Who are these oil rigs for - for me, for you, maybe?

- And why such a mess in Ukraine?

- Donbass - what do you think? This is coal, the entire main industry of Ukraine is there. Now we sit deep in the ass and climb even further into it! The whole world has already taken up arms against us, who are they relying on in this Kremlin? Okay, Chechnya was - this was our territory, and we must not allow this to happen with us. In this Putin was right, I do not mind. With Ukraine, this and that, too, could turn. You can still understand. But why now? They stuck his head in. *** He knows where! Across nine seas and ten lands, ***. And these guys, those who get off twice - they are already sick in the head. They can’t live without it, the crazy ones already.

Jaromir Romanov

- Like this?

- Just recently one such came, who was there in February. Barely escaped, ***. A shell exploded right next to him, and was thrown away by the blast wave. He says that the guys who were nearby, about 15 people, were immediately torn into pieces, only the pieces flew. And he was only hooked a little, but that was enough. All feet in the sieve! He was barely repaired, he has already come here on crutches, tree-sticks, to receive money. I got the money, but he says: "Just let my legs heal, I want to return, to get even for my own!" Yes, *** your mother, I say, God saved you! He could, along with those who scattered pieces, stay there. Stay at home, eat your bread! No, they are already sick. I'm telling you exactly! The psyche is everything.

- Money, maybe?

- Yes, ***. Well, how much will they get there, 200? Only work at home, do not drink and do not be lazy - a man will have 40-50 a month. Runs if, then these 3 million can be earned here in a year. I will never send my children to such *** in my life. I will not allow it, I would rather crash it myself with my own hands than that! To whom did they do well? Gone to the next world for nothing, and that's it!

Interview with the wife of the Ural fighter "PMC Wagner", who died in Syria

- They say a new batch is being prepared for shipment?

- Today or tomorrow should be sent.

- Do they send them from the port in Novorossiysk?

- From the military airfield. From here by buses to Rostov and from Rostov by airplanes already there. Those who came this time will go half to Syria, half to the other.

- Donbass?

- No, they haven't sent anyone to Donbass from here for a long time. These will go to Africa. (Earlier it was reported that PMC Wagner would be involved in South Sudan. - Approx. site).

- And what about Africa?

- ***, we all are silent, and this *** is doing that *** (end)! They will not fight in Africa. There won't even be weapons.

- What will they do then?

- Instructors will teach.

- Whom?

- Again, everything is being done against America, we are undermining their interests. Those are against us, we are against them. All over again. They used to get paid better.

- How much is better?

- 400 thousand a month with combat and even more. Slowly, slowly, and now they made 200. They cut it in half, count it. Although now they are even more trenchant at war than before. This is no longer Donbass, where they stood still and fired back and forth. There with ISIS (a terrorist organization banned on the territory of the Russian Federation. - Approx. Site). These are no longer Ukrainians, you guys are hardened, ***. It's a pity, of course, for our guys. I knew many of them.

Jaromir Romanov

- There are now about 20 of them in the camp on the street.

- It's only on the street. Until there are 150 people in the team, they are not sent anywhere. 150 people is the smallest party. This time, the recruits were up to *** (many) recruited. They almost put the old people there in February. Four days ago, five buses left - the first batch. Now four more buses will be sent. Five or six buses are sent, two or three buses are returning. As long as this Wagner appeared there, everything goes on like that. Two or three buses will return, and then the wounded, who are discharged from hospitals, begin in groups of five or six people, up to ten people appear for money. So it goes.

- How long do they take?

- For six months. This time, some were detained for seven months. Not all specialists, only snipers, for example. Today they have only junior commanders there. You can't get a word out of them. Their security service works very well, there is no need to joke with them. They can kill themselves, if you have done some kind of jamb. They will say later that he was killed in the battle, or they will be shoved into such a place that you will never return.

- They say that they used to have one base near the village of Vesely in Rostov.

- No, they always trained and sent from here. And Rostov only accepted, there they were paid money. Now everything has changed, here they are already sending and receiving money. And what is this money? Hands, legs are missing - and this is a disabled person for life. What will he do now? If before that he could, then what kind of *** did he go there ?! What to do now without legs - to stand in a wheelchair in the middle of the road and beg for money? If you, as expected, give your life or health for the country, then this is understandable. Military pension is assigned, nursing is compulsory. And these - who needs them? This is all an illegal company, and even if they find out that he has been there, this is a criminal term. Nobody tells them that abroad those who were in PMCs are considered murderers and are tried as murderers. They do not look there, abroad, whether you fired there or not! He worked in a private military company, was there - that's it, the murderer.

I am returning to Krasnodar. It's plus 15 outside, spring. Everywhere on the lawns, green grass is breaking through, in the fields people are preparing to plant potatoes. No hints that a war is going on somewhere. True, dozens of policemen and Cossack vigilantes, who have taken the railway and bus stations under increased control, are striking. “Homeless people are probably being chased again. There are a lot of them again, ”suggested a saleswoman in a kiosk on the station square, from whom I take a bottle of water.

The last six months of the war in Syria through the eyes of three rank-and-file fighters of a Russian private military corporation

A strange-looking medal was washed in the compartment of the "Quiet Don" branded train, which departed in early November 2017 from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow. In this award, the symbols of epochs hostile to each other were clearly visible - the Prussian Iron Cross, the Soviet five-pointed star and the White Guard Order of the Ice March. Three men of different ages, about 20, 35 and 45 years old, then did not fall into a drunken courage; the awards had quietly disappeared somewhere so quickly that he did not have time to ask about the origin of the strange medal. However, the path was not short, and little by little, first from scraps of phrases, then, when common tastes and memories were found, a whole picture began to emerge from frank conversations.

Three men were returning from a six-month business trip to Syria. We traveled under a contract concluded with the well-known private military company (PMC) Wagner, although the document, of course, does not contain either this alias call sign or the name of its owner, Dmitry Utkin, who, by the way, headed Evgeny's restaurant holding in the same November Prigogine, also known as the "chef of the Kremlin." The official name of the organization that hired them flatly refused to announce, saying only that this name is constantly changing. The legal address is located in Krasnogorsk near Moscow, on Ilyinskoye highway, in the area of ​​the military town of Pavshino. The term of the contract is from three to six months. The contract is signed at the base of the PMC in Molkino. The future fighter reads the multi-page document, signs it, and he remains in the company's office. It is strictly forbidden to communicate with representatives of the media, therefore in this collective interview they appear as Sergei Ts., Gennady F. and Stepan M. These men were among those who put an end to the long war in the ancient lands of Syria.

On December 6, 2017, the Interfax news agency will officially report, with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, that "Syria has been completely liberated from terrorists, all ISIS gangs have been destroyed, more than a thousand settlements have been liberated and the main communications have been released." But only in these victorious reports, not a word is said about the contribution that ordinary soldiers of private military companies made to the victory.

Forcing the Euphrates near the city of Deir ez-Zor

PLACE OF GATHERING: BASE "MOLKINO"

In the vicinity of the Molkino farm in the Krasnodar Territory, the 10th separate special-purpose brigade of the GRU (military unit 51532) is located. The base of the Wagner PMC is adjacent to it. Fighters came here from all over the country. First, she had to go through a medical commission and various admissions tests.

- There was a medical examination, but the selection is rather visual: arms and legs are in place - and forward, - says Sergey. - They took everyone in a row, because the PMC suffered heavy losses in Syria. I also had to run 3 km, push up 40-50 times (this was rated as "good" and "excellent"). Many did not pass these standards, but were enrolled.

The lie detector was considered a much more serious test. Each candidate passes the polygraph. For example, out of eight people in the group that Gennady was in, only two successfully passed the lie detector, including himself. On what others were cut off, what kind of lie the PMC psychologists were looking for, Gennady still has no idea. But, in his opinion, this selection certainly did not concern the criminal past of the candidates.

The personnel hired under the contract were distributed among the “brigades”. These were not army brigades in their traditional form, the composition of PMC brigades totaled only from 300 to 400 people, depending on the tasks they faced.

FLIGHT ROSTOV-ON-DON - DAMASCUS

We departed from the international airport of Rostov-on-Don on April 25, 2017, on a regular charter flight. They did not put a visa in the passport, the border guards only stamped the departure mark (and upon their return - another arrival mark). The Syrian border service does not appear in the documents at all. In total, one and a half hundred PMC fighters flew in the Boeing, and in a day or two, the other half of the brigade arrived in the same way. They flew to Damascus in civilian clothes, changed clothes already at the Syrian base, that is, in the middle of the desert. They took military uniforms with them, each dressed to his own taste. The most comfortable is the desert uniform of the British SAS special forces, the best in strength and color, followed by the uniform of the American special forces. So, in appearance, the Russian fighters did not differ from the detachment of the Anglo-Saxon special forces. The Syrian form, according to the unanimous opinion of the interlocutors, is of very poor quality.

ASH-SHAIR OIL FIELDS

The PMC fighters did not pass control at the Damascus airport, they immediately sat on the buses - and forward. Where to?

- The rank and file are never told - where, how much to go and what he will do, - says Stepan. - We were brought to the area of ​​the oil fields of Al-Shair, where we sat for three months and only three months later we learned the name of this place. 40 kilometers northwest of Palmyra.

We landed right in the mountainous desert. Some did not have tents, in particular, Sergei, and for the first month and a half he lived "in the fresh air", although it rained and cold in the mountainous area at that time. Only later were government tents issued. In total, three brigades of PMCs, that is, about a thousand people, were gathered in that place. What did you do?

- The mountains were on guard, - says Gennady. - On the opposite mountain ridge sat the ISIS spirits. All the time they were hammered by aviation. Every day they drove by us armored vehicles - tanks, armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, about 60 units in total. Apparently, preparations were underway for the offensive.

At the end of August, the offensive began, and the fighters went through the mountains to the city of Akerbat. We went down into the valley, one by one we took the adjacent villages.

Fights on the outskirts of Akerbat

"STORM" AND STORM OF AKERBAT

The striking force of the PMC brigade in Syria is commonly called "assaults" (with an emphasis on the last syllable). In addition to "assaults", there is also a platoon of heavy weapons, at its disposal mortars, ATGM (anti-tank guided missiles), heavy machine guns, AGS (automatic grenade launchers). Fire support squad. An armored group with an indefinite amount of equipment - from one infantry fighting vehicle to several armored personnel carriers and tanks, as you are lucky. The combat strength of the brigade is about 200 people, those who have at least some combat experience. The remaining 100-150 are the so-called staff guys, service staff, personal drivers of commanders. The brigades are commanded by retired special forces officers (not a single career officer), there are practically no army officers.

- For example, to the commander of our brigade, - says Gennady, - the Syrian chief turned and offered several tanks for nothing, since the Arabs did not have crews for them.

The first to attack are "assaults", followed by a platoon of heavy weapons - mortars, heavy machine guns, ATGMs, etc. The enemy set up traps, allowed several suburban villages to be taken almost unhindered, and in front of the city of Akerbat, the brigade ran into iron defenses, where dozens died. There were specific battles here, for each house. They found the documents of the ISIS members (they were handed over to the special officers of the PMC), they came across notepads with prayers in Russian, there were many Uzbek names on the lists.

“Akerbat was taken only by Russian PMC brigades,” says Sergei, the other two nod their heads in agreement. - The Syrians have come to the final stage to be filmed for TV news. We even hid so as not to get into the frame when the Syrians posed with a heroic look.

OFFICIAL SUMMARY OF THE TAKING OF AKERBAT

So, the fighters of the Wagner PMC claim that they seized Akerbat on their own, the government troops of Syria did not take part in the assault. The official version asserts exactly the opposite, the role of PMCs is not marked with a single word. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, “On September 2, 2017, units of the 4th Panzer Division of the Syrian government forces, in cooperation with units of the 5th Volunteer Assault Corps and units of the military Mukhabarat, with the active support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, liberated the strategically important city of Akerbat, where“ the last major hearth resistance "of terrorists to the IS organization banned in Russia (" Islamic State "is an international terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation).

The government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta in those days broadcast a message from the commander of the Russian military group in Syria, Colonel-General Sergei Surovikin, who, in particular, noted that “to support the offensive of the Syrian army in the Akerbat region, Russian aviation carried out 329 bomb and missile strikes, as a result which destroyed 27 units of armored vehicles of militants, 48 ​​pickups with installed large-caliber weapons and more than 1000 militants. " The general also said that the ISIS in Akerbat used an unprecedented number of suicide bombers. According to him, “15 to 25 militants with“ shahid belts ”and four to five“ jihad-mobiles ”were annihilated every day. But the general kept silent about the fact that this work of destruction was done by the guys from the Wagner PMC.

PERFUME

“Almost all ISIS members wear a martyr's belt,” says Stepan. - Such a beautiful thing, neat, light weight. Plastic packaging filled with transparent gel, in which there are many, many metal balls. Because of this, we did not take a single spirit captive. One night the ISIS members foolishly stuck into our village. Most, of course, we killed at once, and a few were chased around the village for some time. One spirit, apparently seriously wounded, called for help for a long time, and then an explosion rumbled. The explosion collapsed a neighboring wall. It turns out that he was twenty meters away from us. In the morning they carried out cleaning, pits and cellars were thrown with grenades.

“The tactics of the spirits are simple: when there is a night skirmish, two or three suicide bombers come close and explode,” Gennady added. - It happened once or twice a week: an ISH would climb up to the wall of our shelter and explode. From such night sorties many died: eight - in one battle, fifteen - in another, ten - in the third.

- All local residents had left the village by that time. In general, we did not encounter civilians, - Sergei assured.

The assault on the city of Deir-er-Zor

DEIR EZ-ZOR: SYRIAN STALINGRAD

They took Akerbat and told the PMC fighters: it's time to get ready for home. We were already dressing up in civilian clothes, and suddenly an order: on cars in full gear. We drove through the desert for about seven hours, drove three hundred kilometers to the east and found ourselves not far from the city of Deir ez-Zor. There were two Russian PMC brigades that had already crossed the Euphrates on pontoons when the operation to unblock Deir ez-Zor was underway. We were given the task of freeing the adjoining island from the ISIS. They carried out this task for about two months, the main losses were suffered in this place, mainly they were blown up by mines.

RIA Novosti reports then said: “On September 5, the advance detachments of the Syrian army broke through the three-year blockade of Deir ez-Zor and launched an offensive on the eastern outskirts of the city. Having broken through the encirclement of the Air Force base, and after knocking out the terrorists from strategic heights in the southwest, government forces reached the western bank of the Euphrates River and forced it, thereby displacing the terrorist groups in the direction of the Iraqi border and creating a ring around the residential areas captured by the Islamic State terrorist group. districts of Deir ez-Zor ".

Military expert Viktor Baranets commented on the lifting of the blockade from Deir ez-Zor: “The city of Deir ez-Zor is of strategic importance for the further actions of terrorists in Syria. If it is taken, it will be a strategic defeat for the militants, and it will be for them about the same as in 1945 for Nazi Germany. Deir ez-Zor has the same meaning for ISIS. The defeat in Deir ez-Zor will mean that the terrorists will no longer provide active combat resistance. It will be for them not only a military, but also a moral defeat, and in front of the whole world. "

- What is the blockade of Deir ez-Zor - it must be understood again in the Eastern way, - said Sergey. - All those three years that the blockade lasted, cars with food and consumer goods passed freely. No one suffered from hunger. They even joked that the Syrians say: we fought here for three years, fought, the Russians came, and the war began.

- And the chaos began, - Gennady laughed.

Meanwhile, according to Sergei, while the spirits were holding the defenses in Ash-Shair, the Kurds sent here by the Americans captured the oil fields. At the end of September, the ISIS troops withdrew along the flank areas, and again the Russian PMC brigades had to return to "squeeze out the oil fields."

- At the top, apparently, they agreed, and the Kurds moved a little, - says Sergei. - Judging by the inscriptions on the oil rigs, some of them belonged to Europeans, some to Canadians. Canadians have lost the most.

At the end of October, the period of the business trip of the Wagner PMC fighters came to an end. In those days, ISIS cut one of the two main roads connecting the east with the west of Syria. We drove along a longer one - about 800 kilometers. There were no adventures.

LOSSES

For six months of the trip, the human losses of one brigade amounted to about 40 dead ("two hundredth") and about 100 wounded ("three hundredth"). The other brigade was more "lucky": their losses amounted to about 20 killed and 70 wounded. And in the third brigade, in the first two weeks alone, they lost about 50 killed. Most were killed when the blockade of Deir ez-Zor was lifted. Thus, a tenth of the personnel died, a fifth were wounded.

MILITARY EQUIPMENT

“The losses would have been much less,” says Sergei, “if the supply of the PMC group had not been so awful, simply aho-oh-oh. Broken armored cars, lost five trucks in three days, there was nothing to even transport personnel on. And the losses from this are high ... and that's it - they got up! Collapse. Nobody is going anywhere, God forbid they take out the wounded. And experience says that it is high time to transfer soldiers to armored vehicles designed for no more than 10 people. Although a year ago, the equipment was decent - both weapons and equipment.

“This is just a beautiful television picture: tanks are lining up in a row across the desert, BMPs are following them, helicopters are circling above them,” Stepan says. - In fact, there was very little equipment. Our "armada" moved partly on foot, and partly on KamAZ and Ural. If an ATGM hits a truck, then the losses are, of course, huge. And this economy of our military buns turned into huge losses. Some of the leaders in charge of the military supply of the brigades, apparently, reported upstairs how much was saved. And so for three brigades, that is, one and a half thousand people, they gave out only five night sights!

- And what about the spirits? - says Stepan. - For example, 30-40 people usually sit in positions, and so they are given two or three night sights. When the spirits go into the night attack, five "assaults" see them half-and-half, the rest do not see a damn thing. Fathers-commanders say: you shoot the flashes. And for this you need to stick your head out of the shelter. And to get into the night sight of the ISIS man, who will definitely not play the fool, will immediately shoot - and you will not have time to notice the flashes. So it turns out: the spirits see everything, and most of the "assaults" are blind. And therefore the losses are enormous.

- So how should it be? - says Sergey. - As in special forces: each soldier has a night sight and one of three - a thermal imaging sight. And so - lead people to the slaughter. But the management of the PMC may have a lot of money, but they are not going to buy new equipment. I saw with my own eyes a unit armed with three-line guns, revolvers, Degtyarev machine guns, even the “Maxim” machine guns were really there. And at first I had a three-line. Bulletproof vests from the time of the capture of Kabul. The tanks are all "prize", that is, captured from the Arabs, some resemble a colander. When he was indignant in front of his superiors, he heard: “Darling, why are you in a fairy tale? Fight what you gave. ”

Oil fields in Syria - the future place of work for the fighters of PMC "Wagner"

Photo: MIKHAIL VOSKRESENSKIY / RIA NOVOSTI

MILITARY TRAINING

My interlocutors divided the forces that fought on the side of Assad, according to their fighting qualities, into three categories. The lowest place is occupied by the Syrians, the middle - by the Fatimids (as the PMCs called the militants from Afghanistan) and the Palestinians, the top - by the Russians.

“Once a detachment of Fatimids seized a bridgehead, then redeployed, and government troops took their place, immediately raising their flag,” said Sergei. “And our experienced fighter, who has visited Syria five times, predicted: if the Syrian flag appears over the positions in the evening, then the ISIS flag will be here in the morning. We took it as a joke. And in the morning we woke up from a furious stomp: 300-400 Syrian soldiers fled shouting: "The ISIS tank has arrived!" Indeed, a black banner had already been raised over the positions of the government troops.

“The Russians are unsurpassed fighters, especially in defense,” says Stepan. “No one withstood our attacks, no one. For six months, not a single enemy could withstand the attacks of the "assaults". Neither in Akerbat, nor in the Deir ez-Zor region.

“And even the Fatimids are equipped normally,” said Gennady. - I saw myself how they drove jihadks across the desert on their motorcycles (this is the name of an Ishilov pickup with a weapon; it differs from a “shahidka” - the same car, but filled with explosives). Failed this "jihad" as there is nothing to do. Is it possible to fight with our equipment like that ?! Our pilots go on foot, together with the infantry, there are three of them: one drags the installation, two - one rocket each (each weighs 25 kilograms). ISIS also has three fighters, but they are on two motorcycles. On one motorcycle - a rig and two people, on the other - a third with two rockets. Shmalnuli - and disappeared in a minute.

- I personally saw how the spiritual ATGM knocked out three cars - an armored personnel carrier and two trucks within 10 minutes, - says Sergey.

- The level of training of the Syrian troops is not just zero, but, one might say, minus, - said Gennady. - For example, out of 60 units of armored vehicles brought, as already mentioned, to the area of ​​hostilities, about 20 ended up in the hands of the ISIS spirits who were in Akerbat. In general, tanks in Syria are a challenge prize. There is even a joke on this topic: Russia supplies tanks to the Syrians, the Syrians hand them over to ISIS, the Russians come, take the tanks from the ISIS and receive a prize for this. We hand it over to the Syrians again - and everything starts all over again, the tank circulates through Syria until it is burned.

- Personally, I saw how the Syrian special forces went to reconnaissance, Sergey recalls. - We walked about seven kilometers and began yelling over the radio that they had run out of water, several people were hit (and these are the indigenous people of Syria). And they returned without completing the task. The Russians even had to endure the sun-hit Arabs on them. I agree with Gennady: zero level of training.

- All of Syria is about two Moscow regions, most of it is a desert, - Stepan concludes. - It is enough to free a few enclaves and a valley - and that's it! And let the spirits of the steppe hares ride in the desert as much as they like. Work - for a month or two, but no one needs it. Generals earn money in the war, tanks and weapons are written off, ISIS conducts trade with everyone almost officially.

PERSONAL COMPOSITION OF WAGNER PMC

“Despite the fact that many PMC fighters have served in the army and special forces, I’m not mistaken if I say that 90% do not understand where they are going,” says Sergei. - The desire to make money knocks the brain off completely. Therefore, having got into a real trouble, they declare that they did not come here to die, but to earn money. These are called "five hundred", that is, deserters and refuseniks. They are immediately sent to rigging crews, that is, to loaders of shells, etc.

“In life, those who came to Syria are mostly losers,” says Gennady. - As a rule, former cops, prisoners and military. About 40% of the personnel served time for serious crimes - murder, robbery, etc. PMC fighters even greet each other like this: "Hello, losers!" It is noticeable that for many months before a business trip, or even years, they were drinking without drying out. In Syria, drinking is forbidden, the heads are a little enlightened, they give a vow to tie for the rest of their lives. They return to Russia with a million in their pocket and break into such a peak, a month later they crawl to the base without pants.

EARNINGS "GENTLEMAN OF GOOD LUCK"

A year or two ago, according to Sergei, the fighters of the Wagner PMC earned 310-350 thousand rubles a month (240 thousand - a salary, plus 3 thousand a day - in combat). In the spring of this year, they had 300 thousand (with a salary of 220 thousand), and those who arrived in the fall earned an average of 200-210 thousand (the salary dropped to 150 thousand).

- What is the reason for the drop in earnings? - Stepan asked. - I think that everyone is stealing, everything is being stolen. At some point, people lose their heads and start stealing without a twinge of conscience. We suspect that the upper classes still pay decently, but below they come up with various restrictions that are associated with salaries. For example, there is a clause in the contract that says that a business trip starting from the fourth month is considered long and an additional thousand rubles are paid for each day. When someone reminded his boss about this point, he received the following answer in a very relaxed form: “Were you scared? You already get a lot! "

- And insurance? - I ask. - What amount is paid in case of death?

- You see, - says Sergei, - according to some rumors, three and a half million, according to others - five million. Personally, I did not see anything about this in my agreement. Although I could have looked through: the contract is multi-page, and besides, the principle of time pressure works. It says that you agree that you may not be taken out in the form of a corpse. It is also rumored that 50 thousand are paid for a minor injury, and up to 300 thousand, plus treatment, for a more serious one. They say that the treatment is good - in the military hospitals of Rostov-on-Don, Kislovodsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, etc. Good conditions, highly qualified doctors. But there is one principle: no disabilities.

“I have an ambivalent attitude towards these private military companies,” adds Stepan. - On the one hand, they cheat, and this is insulting. On the other hand, if you look at the situation as if from the outside, the PMC removes unnecessary elements from civilian life (literally, this is what the fighter said about his comrades, and therefore about himself. - A.Ch.).

As it turned out later, Sergei brought one and a half million rubles from Syria. I handed out debts, bought a night sight, binoculars, warm clothes, and other small items of equipment. There was not enough money left, only to get from Moscow to Krasnodar.

- What work is left in Syria? Protect oil fields, factories. Throwing in attacks will no longer be.