Son of Kremlin spokesman served with Wagner in Ukraine
Moscow, Apr 24 (EFE).- The son of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s spokesman says he fought with the Wagner Group mercenary force in Ukraine, according to an interview published on Telegram.
“It was on my initiative,” Nikolai Peskov, also known as Nikolai Choles, said of serving with the Wagner group. “I considered it my duty.”
In the interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Choles explained that when he joined there wasn’t much information about Wagner and that he asked his father, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, to help him get involved.
Nikolai went on to declare his admiration for the Wagner group and their “achievements in Syria and other places.”
He added that he was “insanely proud of the Wagner family”, as well as of all those who were participating in the military campaign in Ukraine.
“I believe that all the proposed tasks will be fulfilled. I am convinced of this,” Choles stressed.
The 33-year-old, who served for just under half a year, received a medal for bravery, according to the interview.
The Kremlin spokesman on Monday confirmed that his son had taken part in Russia’s “military operation in Ukraine” but refrained from sharing any more details.
“He reached that decision, he’s an adult,” Peskov told reporters.
Wagner founder, businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Friday said that Peskov’s son had served with the force for six months and was currently on leave.
According to Prigozhin, Putin’s spokesman called him last summer and asked him to take his son on as a gunner.
The Wagner chief said that Peskov’s son wanted to join the war and explained how he advised him not to go to the defense ministry where they would “use him as cannon fodder,” a statement from his press office said.
Prigozhin added that Choles was enlisted under a different name and underwent a three-week training course, after which he was deployed to Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, where he was sent to join an Uragan crew, a multiple rocket launcher.
The Wagner chief said that nobody working on the rocket launcher knew who Choles was. EFE
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