Dmitry Valerievich Utkin (russian: Дмитрий Валерьевич Уткин; born 11 June 1970) is a Russian
army officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contex ...
. He served as a special forces officer in the GRU, where he held a rank of lieutenant colonel. He is alleged to have founded the
Wagner Group
The Wagner Group (russian: Группа Вагнера, Gruppa Vagnera), also known as PMC Wagner ( «Вагнер», ChVK «Vagner»; ), is a Russian paramilitary organization. It is variously described as a private military company (PMC), ...
, a believer of Slavic native faith. Utkin has been alleged by the
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
-based ''
Meduza
''Meduza'' ( rus, Медуза, t=jellyfish) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent '' Lenta.ru'' news website. Free mo ...
'' to have sympathies with Nazi Germany, and believed by the British '' NationalWorld'' to be a
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack r ...
because of the images that surfaced in 2021, purportedly showing Utkin with a ''
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
The grew from th ...
'' collar tab and ''
Reichsadler
The ' ("Imperial Eagle") is the heraldic eagle, derived from the Roman eagle standard, used by the Holy Roman Emperors and in modern coats of arms of Germany, including those of the Second German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1 ...
'' tattoos on his neck and chest.
Utkin hasn't made any public appearances since 2016.
Military career
Russia and Slavonic Corps
Utkin served as the commander of the 700th Separate Special Detachment of the 2nd Separate Special Brigade of the
Pechory
Pechory (russian: Печо́ры; Estonian and Seto: ') is a town and the administrative centre of Pechorsky District in the Pskov Oblast, Russia. Its population in the 2010 Census was 11,195, having fallen from 13,056 recorded i ...
,
Pskov Oblast
Pskov Oblast (russian: Пско́вская о́бласть, ') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the west of the country. Its administrative center is the city of Pskov. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 67 ...
, until 2013. After retiring, he joined the Slavonic Corps, fighting on the side of
Syrian President
The president of Syria, officially the president of the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: رئيس سوريا) is the head of state of the Syrian Arab Republic. They are vested with sweeping powers that may be delegated, at their sole discretion, to ...
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...
in 2013, but returned to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in October.
Wagner Group
Almost immediately after returning to Russia, Utkin reportedly created his own mercenary group. Utkin, who reportedly has a passion for the history of the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, had the call-sign ''Wagner'', allegedly in honour of
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
. Utkin and his "
Wagner Group
The Wagner Group (russian: Группа Вагнера, Gruppa Vagnera), also known as PMC Wagner ( «Вагнер», ChVK «Vagner»; ), is a Russian paramilitary organization. It is variously described as a private military company (PMC), ...
", as well as several veterans of the Slavonic Corps were seen both in
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...
in February 2014 and then in
Donbas
The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
, where they fought for the pro-Russian separatists during the
Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...
. '' Gazeta.ru'' reports that Utkin and his men could have been involved in the killing of several field commanders of the self-proclaimed
Luhansk People's Republic
The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic (russian: Луга́нская Наро́дная Респу́блика, Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika, ; abbreviated as LPR or LNR, rus, ЛНР) is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed ...
. Turkish newspaper
Yeni Şafak
''Yeni Şafak'' ("New Dawn") is a conservative, Islamist Turkish daily newspaper. The newspaper is known for its hardline support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the AK Party and has a very close relationship with the Turkish government. ...
reported that Utkin was possibly a figurehead for the company, while the real head of Wagner was someone else.
Utkin was seen in the
Kremlin
The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...
during the celebration of Fatherland's Heroes Day on 9 December 2016. He attended the celebration as a laureate of four Orders of Courage, and was photographed with the
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
,
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...
.
Dmitry Peskov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov ( rus, Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков, p=pʲɪˈskof; born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat and the press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin.''RBK'' reported that after completing a training in
Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part o ...
, Utkin and his men returned to Syria in 2015. Soon after the start of the Russian aerial strikes, reports emerged on the deaths of Russian mercenaries fighting on the ground. Several images spread in the social media apparently depicting armed Russian men killed during the Battle of Palmyra in March 2016.Sky News reported that approximately 500 to 600 people, mostly Wagner mercenaries, were killed in Syria in 2016.
In June 2017, the United States imposed sanctions against Utkin as the head of Wagner Group. In November 2017, ''RBK'' reported the appointment of Utkin as CEO of Concord Management and Consulting, the managing company of the restaurant holding owned by
Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (russian: link=no, Евгений Викторович Пригожин; born 1 June 1961) is a Russian oligarch and close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin was called "Putin's chef" because ...
, who is believed to be the financier of Wagner Group.
Bellingcat
Bellingcat (stylised as bell¿ngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 20 ...
contends that this was a different Dmitry Utkin, however.
On 13 December 2021, the
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...
imposed restrictive measures against Utkin and other individuals associated with the Wagner Group. In relation to Utkin, he was accused of being "responsible for serious
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
abuses committed by the group, which include
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts ...
summary
may refer to:
* Abstract (summary), shortening a passage or a write-up without changing its meaning but by using different words and sentences
* Epitome, a summary or miniature form
* Abridgement, the act of reducing a written work into a sho ...