Son of Kremlin spokesman shares details on his service with Wagner Group
The eldest son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Nikolay, has shared details of his tour with Russia’s Wagner Group private military company and of the action he saw in the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine. Peskov’s scion spoke about his experience in an exclusive interview with newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, published on Saturday.
33-year-old Peskov has recently completed his six-month contract with the group, manning a BM-27 Uragan self-propelled 220-mm multiple rocket launcher system. He revealed it was “entirely his own decision” to join the group, though it was supported by his “whole family,” with his father telling him it was the “right thing” to do.
“I considered it to be my duty. I just had to participate, I had to help everyone who was there. I couldn’t just sit and watch friends and other people go there,” he told the newspaper.
The son of the widely-known Kremlin spokesman served with the PMC group under a fake surname, with his comrades not being aware of his bigwig father. Peskov refused to reveal his alias, stating he “might need it in the future,” apparently hinting at prospects of a re-enlistment.
He also revealed his team has been quite “busy,” with the group performing a lot of tasks on the frontline. However, he declined to provide any further detail on their operations, stating only that one of the “interesting” sorties of his Uragan earned him, as well as the other crewmembers of the launcher, the Medal for Valor, one of the most respected active-combat merits in Russia.
“This was for a certain military feat. All my crew accomplished this feat. We had one interesting sortie. I can’t say more,” Peskov stated.
Peskov’s service with Wagner was first revealed by the group’s boss, Evgeny Prigozhin, on Friday. Prigozhin said that one of the offspring of Dmitry Peskov served with the group as a regular artilleryman, “knee-deep in mud, sh*t.” The PMC chief did not reveal much detail, without even naming Nikolay, yet provided a description that matched him.
Early into the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Nikolay Peskov was targeted with personal sanctions by the US, with multiple allies of Washington following suit and also slapping restrictions against him later on.
