1/ The identity of the Wagner commander at Soledar has been uncovered: he has been identified as a former soldier named Anton Olegovich Elizarov, who was convicted of fraud in 2014. Meanwhile, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin is reported to now be in a difficult position. ⬇️ 
2/ The Dossier Centre, an organisation founded by Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky to expose high-level Russian corruption, says it has identified the man who appeared with Prigozhin in a 14 January video (see thread below).
https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1614699841451446273
3/ In the video, Prigozhin doesn't name him but calls him an experienced fighter who took Soledar "without chewing snot in a fortnight".
4/ The Dossier Centre names him and says: "He was born in 1981 in Rostov region, graduated from Ulyanovsk Guards Suvorov Military School in 1998 and from Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 2003.
5/ "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.
6/ "During his service he took part in combat operations in the North Caucasus.
In 2014, Elizarov's military career was derailed. He was accused of fraud with a service apartment – Elizarov provided false documents during its privatisation.
In 2014, Elizarov's military career was derailed. He was accused of fraud with a service apartment – Elizarov provided false documents during its privatisation.
7/ "The court sentenced him to three years of suspended imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 roubles [$1,454 at today's exchange rates]. Elizarov unsuccessfully sued the Ministry of Defence for the flat and was evicted in 2016.
8/ "Since at least 2016, Elizarov has been listed as a member of the Wagner, call sign Lotos, number M-0136. [Note - he was identified by his call sign of 'Lotos' in a recent post by the Wagner-linked Grey Zone Telegram channel.]
9/ "He fought in Syria, where he was wounded by shrapnel in his thigh in 2017, worked as a trainer in Central African Republic in 2018-2019, and commanded an assault unit in Libya in 2021.
10/ "In September 2022, Elizarov appeared with Prigozhin and the governor of the Volgograd region at the funeral of Wagnerite Alexei Nagin.
11/ "The video footage shows Elizarov wearing his awards - a Hero of the Russian Federation star and hero stars of the unrecognised Donesk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic."
12/ Meanwhile, while Elizarov's star appears to be rising, Prigozhin's appears to be falling somewhat in the aftermath of Soledar. A source tells the well-connected VChK-OGPU Telegram channel:
13/ "It has now become clear that Prigozhin's influence is absolutely not as huge as everyone (and he himself too) thought. After Soledar, everything went totally different from the plan he had hoped for. It seemed that Prigozhin was about to replace Gerasimov with his own man.
14/ "But everything turned against Prigozhin himself and [Wagner].
Losses are hell, which is generally predictable and understandable given the task at hand. They are trying to cheer up the fighters morally, this was not much practiced in private military companies before.
Losses are hell, which is generally predictable and understandable given the task at hand. They are trying to cheer up the fighters morally, this was not much practiced in private military companies before.
15/ "But on the whole it is sad, of course. With such an approach the storming of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk will need more men than the 'Musicians' ever had at any one time.
16/ "A small observation - Wagner has come to be referred to internally as "the army" and the military uses the term "unit" [i.e. Wagner calls itself an 'army' while the actual Russian army calls Wagner a mere 'unit'].
17/ "It's hard to tell if this is just a war of words, or if it's some kind of innuendo". /end
Sources:
🔹 t.me/dossiercenter/…
🔹 t.me/vchkogpu/35965
Sources:
🔹 t.me/dossiercenter/…
🔹 t.me/vchkogpu/35965
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