A FIGHTER in Vladimir Putin’s infamous private army, the Wagner Group, has been arrested after illegally crossing the US border.
Timur Praliev, a former Russian mercenary, was captured by police after wading across the Rio Grande into Texas from Mexico.
He was apprehended close to the city of Roma, about 50 miles northwest of McCallen, with two passports and $4,000 along with 60,000 Mexican pesos ($2,895.11) in his possession, on Saturday, January 4.
Also in his possession was a drone, according to Assistant US Attorney Amanda McColgan.
Upon his arrest, Praliev confessed to being part of the Wagner Group, a notorious private military force believed to operate under the authority of Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin.
The group has operated in around a dozen countries, where its fighters have been accused of multiple war crimes.
These include murder, rape, torture, and robbery of civilians, as well as torturing and killing deserters.
Putin’s private army has also been deployed as part of his invasion of Ukraine.
The United States views the Wagner Group as a paramilitary organization implicated in various atrocities, including war crimes, executions, and other violent activities in Africa and Ukraine.
“The defendant was also in possession of a drone in his backpack when he crossed into the United States,” McColgan said.
“And he admitted, when interviewed, to being a member of the Wagner Group.”
According to the criminal complaint against him, Praliev said “he was a citizen and national of Kazakhstan.”
His actions for the Wagner group are not yet known, nor are his reasons for crossing into the US with a drone.
Praliev was charged by the Border Patrol with illegally entering the United States, a federal misdemeanor.
He pleaded guilty, and McColgan requested a 15-day sentence.
“The government is concerned about the safety of the community when this defendant is released,” she said.
“Because of his association with a group associated with political violence.”
What is the Wagner Group and who was its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin?
The Wagner Group, officially known as PMC Wagner, is a Russian paramilitary organisation that was founded in 2014.
It was run by Putin’s former close ally Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Russia calls the Wagner Group a “private military company,” though it has been labelled as a network of mercenaries by others.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was the leader of the Wagner Group and was at the forefront of their involvement in the war on Ukraine.
He was a close confidant of Putin but became his greatest enemy when he launched an alleged coup in June 2023.
In the past, Prigozhin was often referred to as “Putin’s chef” as he owned a number of restaurants and catering companies that provided services for the Kremlin.
Prigozhin appeared to trigger a crisis after he vowed to “punish” Russia, blaming the Kremlin for a missile attack on a Wagner training camp in Bakhmut, Ukraine, which killed dozens.
Prigozhin and his troops had been fighting in Putin’s war in Ukraine – but the Wagner boss had become a vocal critic of Russia’s military leadership.
In the early hours of June 24, 2023, he announced he had taken control of the Russian army HQ in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, vowing to take the fight to Moscow.
In a series of videos and audio clips posted online, Prigozhin said: “We will destroy anyone who stands in our way…we are moving forward and will go until the end.”
He called for an armed rebellion against Russia’s top generals and defense minister Sergei Shoigu.
Following Prigozhin’s declaration, Putin gave an emergency address calling the Wagner Group’s “armed mutiny” a “stab in the back”.
The Russian president also warned of “inevitable punishment” for those attacking “the motherland”, vowing to defend Russia against “anarchy”.
Prigozhin died in a plane crash on 23 August 2023.
Praliev had on him a Russian and a Kazakh passport when he was arrested.
Dual citizenship is illegal in Kazakhstan, and if a Kazakh citizen acquires the passport of another state, they must renounce their Kazakh citizenship within 30 days and hand over their passport.
Praliev was born in 1993, according to a report from Ukrainian news outlet Idel.Realii.
The organ reported that he received a veteran’s certificate from a Russian veterans’ group in Bashkortostan, Russia.
The post, translated, describes Praliev as “a former employee of the Wagner PMC from the Iglinsky District.”
