Dmitry Utkin

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This article is about the Russian military officer. For the ice hockey player, see Dmitri Utkin.
Dmitry Utkin
File:Utkinportrait.jpg.webp
Native name
Дмитрий Валерьевич Уткин
Birth nameDmitry Valerievich Utkin
Born (1970-06-11) June 11, 1970 (age 53)
Asbest, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance
Service/branchGRU (–2013)
RankLieutenant colonel (–2013)
Commands held
  • 2nd Spetsnaz Brigade (–2013)
    • 700th Spetsnaz Detachment
    Wagner Group (2014–present)
Battles/wars
AwardsOrder of Courage (4)

Dmitry Valerievich Utkin (Russian: Дмитрий Валерьевич Уткин; born 11 June 1970) is a Russian neo-Nazi and former GRU special forces officer, who served as a lieutenant colonel.[1][2][3] He is considered the founder of Wagner Group, with his own call-sign reportedly being Wagner.[4][5][6][7][8] Utkin has received four Orders of Courage.

Early life

Utkin was born on 11 June 1970, into the family of a geologist in the Siberian city of Asbest, Sverdlovsk Oblast of the Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.[9][10] He was married to Elena Shcherbinina, but the couple divorced in the early 2000s.[11]

Military career

Russia and Slavonic Corps

Utkin served as the commander of the 700th Separate Special Detachment of the 2nd Separate Special Brigade of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU), stationed in Pechora, Pskov Oblast, until 2013.[12][13] After retiring, he joined the Slavonic Corps, fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the civil war in 2013, but returned to Moscow in October.[14]

Wagner Group

Almost immediately after returning to Russia, Utkin reportedly created his own mercenary group. Utkin, who reportedly has a passion for the history of the Third Reich,[15] had the call-sign Wagner, presumably in honour of Richard Wagner, Adolf Hitler's favourite composer.[14] Utkin and his "Wagner Group", as well as several veterans of the Slavonic Corps were seen both in Crimea in February 2014 and then in Donbas, where they fought for the pro-Russian separatists during the Russo-Ukrainian War.[16] Gazeta.ru reports that Utkin and his men could have been involved in the killing of several field commanders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.[17]

Utkin was seen in Kremlin during the celebration of Fatherland's Heroes Day on 9 December 2016. He attended the celebration as a laureate of four Orders of Courage,[18][19] and was photographed with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.[20] Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary for the Russian President, admitted that Utkin was indeed among the invitees, but did not comment on his connection with the mercenaries.[14]

RBK reported that after completing a training in Krasnodar Krai, Utkin and his men returned to Syria in 2015.[21] Soon after the start of the Russian aerial strikes, reports emerged on the deaths of Russian mercenaries fighting on the ground. Several images spread in the social media apparently depicting armed Russian men killed during the Battle of Palmyra in March 2016.[16] Sky News had reported that approximately 500 to 600 people, mostly Wagner mercenaries, were killed in Syria in 2016.[22]

In June 2017, the United States imposed sanctions against Utkin as the head of Wagner Group.[23] In November 2017, RBK reported the appointment of Utkin as CEO of Concord Management and Consulting, the managing company of the restaurant holding owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin,[24] who is believed to be the financier of Wagner Group.[25] Bellingcat contends that this was a different Dmitry Utkin, however.[26]

On 13 December 2021, the Council of the European Union imposed restrictive measures against Utkin and other individuals associated with the Wagner Group. In relation to Utkin, he was accused of being "responsible for serious human rights abuses committed by the group, which include torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings."[27][28]

References

  1. ^ Dettmer, Jamie (7 December 2020). "Mercenary Says Kremlin's Wagner Group Recruiting Inexperienced Fighters". Voice of America. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Путин принимал в Кремле командира российских наемников. Что о нем известно?". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  3. ^ "The secretive Russian mercenaries 'ordered to kill' Ukraine's president". www.nationalworld.com. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
  4. ^ Sukhankin, Sergey (18 December 2019). "Russian PMCs in the Syrian Civil War: From Slavonic Corps to Wagner Group and Beyond". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Wagner, shadowy Russian military group, 'fighting in Libya'". BBC (in Russian). 7 May 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  6. ^ Rabin, Alexander (4 October 2019). "Diplomacy and Dividends: Who Really Controls the Wagner Grup". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  7. ^ Rondeaux, Candace (7 November 2019). "Tracing Wagner's Roots". New America. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  8. ^ Rondeaux, Candace (7 November 2019). "Forward Operations: From Deir Ezzor to Donbas and Back Again". New America. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Уткин Дмитрий Валерьевич". spisok-putina.
  10. ^ "СБУ назвала всех "вагнеровцев" на фото с Путиным в Кремле". Ukrinform (in Russian). 7 October 2017.
  11. ^ Zubov, Gennady; Petelin, German. "WSJ: США пригрозили санкциями российскому союзнику в Ливии Хафтару за захват нефтяных месторождений бойцами "ЧВК Вагнера"". Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Они сражались за Пальмиру". Fontanka.ru (in Russian). 28 March 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  13. ^ ""Фонтанка» нашла двух российских наемников, подозреваемых в убийстве дезертира в Сирии. Один из них служил в спецназе с главой ЧВК «Вагнер"". Meduza (in Russian). 13 December 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  14. ^ a b c "Путин принимал в Кремле командира российских наемников. Что о нем известно?". Meduza.io (in Russian). 15 December 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  15. ^ Bogushevsky, Rostislav; Yushkov, Ilya (19 December 2018). "Вагнеру создали двойника". Daily Storm (in Russian). Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  16. ^ a b ""Славянский корпус" возвращается в Сирию". Fontanka.ru (in Russian). 16 October 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  17. ^ Dergachev, Vladimir; Zgirovskaya, Ekaterina (24 March 2016). "Российские наемники в боях за Пальмиру". Gazeta (in Russian). Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  18. ^ ""Фонтанка" насчитала у командира российских наемников Вагнера четыре ордена Мужества". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  19. ^ дня, Фото. "Фото дня: Дмитрий Уткин, которого называют командиром российских наемников в Сирии, и Владимир Путин". Эхо Москвы (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  20. ^ "Песков подтвердил присутствие командира ЧВК Вагнера на приеме в Кремле". ТАСС. 2016-12-15.
  21. ^ "Призраки войны: как в Сирии появилась российская частная армия". RBK (in Russian). 25 August 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  22. ^ Sparks, John (10 August 2016). "Revealed: Russia's 'Secret Syria Mercenaries'". Sky News. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  23. ^ "США ввели санкции против ЧВК "Вагнер"". RIA Novosti (in Russian). 20 June 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  24. ^ "Командир ЧВК Вагнера возглавил ресторанный бизнес Пригожина" (in Russian). 15 November 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  25. ^ Ljubas, Zdravko (16 March 2021). "Paramilitary Group Wagner Sued in Russia for War Crimes in Syria". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  26. ^ "Putin Chef's Kisses of Death: Russia's Shadow Army's State-Run Structure Exposed". bellingcat. 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
  27. ^ "EU slaps sanctions on Russian mercenary group Wagner". POLITICO. 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  28. ^ "EUR-Lex - 32021R2195 - EN - EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
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