It Becomes Known Who Commands Wagner Unit In Soledar
- 17.01.2023, 8:21
He was previously tried for fraud.
Investigators have identified the commander of the Wagner unit while storming Soledar in Donetsk Region. He turned out to be a former military officer, previously tried for fraud.
"On January 14, a video clip appeared in Evgeny Prigozhin's telegram channel where "Putin's cook" introduces the "commander of the takeover of Soledar". The name of the man with whom Prigozhin is standing in front of the destroyed house is not disclosed, but the founder of the Wagner PMC calls him an experienced fighter who took the town "without chewing snot in a fortnight," writes Centre Dossier.
Journalists point out that in fact, the fighting for Soledar has lasted since the spring of 2022 and is still going on.
According to the Dossier Centre, the commander of the Wagner unit sent to storm Soledar is known as Anton Elizarov.
"He was born in 1981 in the Rostov Region, graduated from the Ulyanovsk Guards Suvorov Military School in 1998 and from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 2003. Elizarov served in the 108th regiment of the 7th Guards Airborne Assault Division in Novorossiysk, where he commanded a platoon and a company. He was also a team leader in the 10th Separate Special Forces Brigade in Molkino. During his service, he took part in combat operations in the North Caucasus," the investigators added.
At the same time, Elizarov was accused of fraudulent use of a service flat in 2014. It is noted that he had provided false documents when privatising it. The court sentenced him to three years of suspended imprisonment and a fine. Following the trials against the Russian Ministry of Defence, Elizarov was evicted from the service flat.
"Since at least 2016, Elizarov has been a Wagner member with the call sign Lotos, number M-0136. He fought in Syria, where he was wounded by a shrapnel in his thigh in 2017, worked as an instructor in CAR in 2018-2019, and commanded an assault unit in Libya in 2021. In September 2022, Elizarov appeared with Prigozhin and the governor of Volgograd Region at the funeral of Wagner member Aleksey Nagin,» the investigators said.