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The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, stated on Monday that his son had fought in Ukraine, highlighting the Moscow elite’s uneven participation in a struggle effort that has thus far price the lives of tens of 1000’s of Russian troopers.
Mr. Peskov’s remarks got here after Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the chief of Russia’s Wagner non-public army firm, stated on Saturday that the spokesman’s son had served as an artilleryman together with his mercenary group for six months. The Kremlin spokesman’s son, Nikolai Peskov, described his purported service to Komsomolskaya Pravda, a pro-government newspaper, in an article revealed the following day.
On Monday, President Vladimir V. Putin’s longest-serving chief spokesman was requested about his 33-year-old son at a day by day press briefing.
“It’s true, he did participate within the particular army operation,” Mr. Peskov informed journalists, utilizing the federal government’s euphemism for the struggle in Ukraine. He declined to supply additional particulars.
Not one of the accounts may very well be independently verified, and it was not potential to find out whether or not Mr. Prigozhin was stating a uncommon instance of a rich younger Russian’s army service or was making an attempt a public relations stunt to needle Kremlin insiders.
Mr. Prigozhin, a social media provocateur, has typically criticized the nation’s elite for weak patriotic sentiment. In March, Mr. Prigozhin claimed that the son-in-law of Russia’s protection minister, Sergei Ok. Shoigu, had joined Wagner. It turned out that the fighter was of no relation to the protection minister, a frequent goal of Mr. Prigozhin’s criticism.
Some parts of Mr. Prigozhin’s account of the youthful Mr. Peskov’s service seemed like trolling.
Mr. Prigozhin stated that in Wagner, the Kremlin spokesman’s son had labored loading ammunition on an task that might have positioned him miles behind the entrance line. He additionally stated that the younger man stood out from his comrades as a result of he spoke English and “seemed too intelligent.”
A number of appearing and former Russian officers have volunteered for the army for the reason that begin of the invasion final 12 months, utilizing their service to bolster their nationalist credentials on social media.
Nevertheless it has been troublesome to substantiate particulars of their service, together with whether or not they served in frontline roles.
In 2011, the youthful Mr. Peskov posted photographs on social media that appeared to indicate him taking part in Russia’s compulsory one-year army service.
Since Mr. Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine final 12 months, the youthful Mr. Peskov has been goaded about additional enlistment. Shortly after Mr. Putin introduced in September that he would mobilize 300,000 males to struggle, opposition activists claiming to be conscription officers prank-called him.
“Clearly, I gained’t come,” a person described because the Kremlin spokesman’s son informed the prank callers after being requested whether or not he would report back to the conscription workplace the following day. “I’m going to resolve this on a distinct stage.”
However he informed the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that becoming a member of Wagner was his choice, saying that he had acquired a medal “for bravery.”
He didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from The New York Occasions.
Oleg Matsnev and Alina Lobzina contributed analysis.
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