PARIS — Marat Gabidullin’s face is lined from years of exposure to the elements, and his hair is thinning. But at 56, he has the trim physique and muscular arms of a man 30 years younger. He wears a chunky ring bearing the image of a skull.
The skull is the symbol of the Wagner Group — a private Russian mercenary force believed to be financed by an oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir Putin. The group is fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. And it’s widely believed that at least some of the “little green men” — well-trained fighters who wore fatigues without insignia or markings — who took over part of eastern Ukraine in 2014 were Wagner Group soldiers.
This week, Ukraine accused at least two Wagner Group members of war crimes.
But Wagner Group activities aren’t limited to Ukraine. The organization has also been active across Africa in recent years — Libya, Sudan, Mozambique, Mali and the Central African Republic. Today there are thought to be some 10,000 Wagner Group members.
Gabidullin, who lives in France, where he’s asked for asylum, is the first former Wagner soldier to speak publicly. A French publisher, Michel Lafon, has released his book about his experiences, Moi Marat, ex-Commandant de l’armee Wagner (I Marat, ex-Commander in the Wagner Army). The book was published last year in Russian but has yet to appear in English.
Born in the Soviet region of Bashkirskaya, in today’s central Russia, Gabidullin served 10 years as an officer in the Soviet army before being laid off. In 2015, he found himself unemployed and at a low point in his life.
“I was depressed and a friend told me about this private military company that I could qualify for because of my military background,” he says.
The Wagner Group first came to public attention in 2014
The Wagner Group is often called “Putin’s shadow army,” though the Kremlin has always denied responsibility for, or even knowledge of, its activities. The group is believed to have been founded in 2014 by a Russian veteran of the Chechen war who so admired Hitler he named the group after Richard Wagner, the führer’s favorite composer.
The organization first came to the world’s attention in 2014, fighting alongside Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
The U.S. government has called Wagner a “proxy force” of Russia’s defense ministry. Gabidullin says in many ways, the group is similar to the Russian army — with many former officers in the corps. But it’s also very different.
“It’s very flexible and can change structure quickly, depending on the circumstances,” he says. “It’s a small military that’s equipped with everything. And what we do depends on our…
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