Andrei Troshev is a retired colonel and Russian veteran, born in 1962, who participated in the Afghanistan-Chechnya war, served in the Special Rapid Reaction Unit and Riot Police of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and is one of the most prominent founders of the Wagner Group.

He participated in the Russian war on Syria and Ukraine, and his name appeared in the European Union and UK sanctions related to the Syrian file, and is the leading candidate for the presidency of the Wagner Group, succeeding Levery Prigozhin, who died in the crash of his private plane in late August 2023.

Birth and upbringing

Andrei Nikolayevich Troshev was born in 1962 in the city of St. Petersburg, which during the days of the USSR was called "Leningrad".

He is nicknamed "Sidwi" and means gray hair, and the word "Sidoy" has become his nom de guerre by which he was known during his military experience, and he mostly hides information related to his personal life and family away from the media.

Number of Wagner Group fighters (Reuters)

Study and scientific training

After graduating from high school, he joined the Leningrad Higher Military School of Artillery and served in leadership positions in various artillery units, and then participated in the Afghan-Russian war, and commanded self-propelled artillery units, after which he graduated from the Military Artillery Academy and then the Russian Academy of Public Administration.

Military experience

Troshchev served in Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation for many years, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union he continued to serve in the Russian Armed Forces, then moved to the Ministry of Interior and worked as an employee of the Special Rapid Response Unit and Riot Police.

His name rose to prominence in Russia's war on Chechnya, participated in the Russian war on the North Caucasus, retired in 2014, and then joined the Wagner Group immediately after its founding and became its CEO and one of its founders.

He has strong ties with prominent figures in the group, such as Dmitry Utkin, Alexander Sergeevich Kuznetsov and Andrei Bogatov.

He joined the Wagner Group in Syria, was involved in fighting in Deir Ezzor province, fought with his group alongside the Syrian regime's army, and played a role in the battle against the Islamic State in the Syrian city of Palmyra.

According to sanctions documents published by the European Union, Troshev is the chief of staff of the Wagner Group's operations in Syria, and sanctions from documents issued by the United Kingdom in June 2022 indicate that he was the leader of a special military unit that persecutes civilians in Syria.

In 2017, Russian media reported that one of Wagner employees was taken to a hospital in St. Petersburg with 5 million rubles, cards, an order for 20 tents and $5,<>, as well as maps of Syria, vouchers for paying for weapons and an electronic air ticket to Krasnodar.

In Russia's war on Ukraine, Torshev had a major role, and was described as an "obedient machine gun" tireless, and his role emerged in the battles fought by Russian forces for control of the city of Pakhmut in eastern Ukraine, as he was the commander of Wagner forces there and contributed to the fall of the city to Russian forces.

During his military career, no complaints were recorded in his record as a military man, and he was known to carry out orders without objection, as well as his loyalty to the Kremlin.

Wagner rebellion and its aftermath

After the rebellion led by the late Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and the end of reconciliation, a meeting took place between Russian President Vladimir Putin and 35 Wagner leaders on June 29, 2023, five days after the rebellion, and Putin then proposed to settle Wagner's legal status and give it legal status by signing contracts from the Ministry of Defense so that Wagner would officially become subordinate to the Ministry of Defense.

Some sources pointed out that the Russian president raised at the meeting the matter of changing the Wagner administration and nominated a number of names for this, including Andrei Troshev, but the settlement was not completed because the former Wagner commander rejected this offer.

"Nothing will change for Wagner, it will be led by the same person who was its real leader all this time," Putin was quoted as saying in an interview, referring to Troshev.

In early July 2023, one of the Wagner Group's Telegram channels announced that it had expelled one of its senior executives, Colonel Andrei Troshev, for collaborating with the Kremlin.

The channel published a leaked document from Russia's Federal Security Service indicating that it was Andrei who informed the Kremlin of the rebellion planned by Wagner, and that he ordered the units to step down during the rebellion.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, former leader of the Reuters group

After the crash and death of Prigozhin's plane with a group of Wagner commanders on August 26, 2023, Andrei Troshev's name resurfaced.

Responsibilities and functions

Truschef held several positions, including:

  • Commander of self-propelled artillery units in the Soviet war on Afghanistan.
  • An employee of the Special Rapid Reaction Unit and the riot police of the Russian Interior.
  • Executive Commander and founding member of the Wagner Combat Group.
  • Head of the regional public organization in St. Petersburg "Association for the Protection of the Interests of Veterans in Local Wars and Military Conflicts".
  • Chief of Staff of the Wagner Group's operations in Syria.
  • Commander of the Wagner Group, which contributed to the fall of the Ukrainian city of Bakhamut to Russian forces.
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin nominated him to lead the Wagner Group to succeed Prigozhin after the failed insurgency.

Awards

  • He was awarded the Order of the Red Star 3 times.
  • Medal of "Excellence in Military Service" from the Ministry of Defense of the first degree.
  • Medal of "Excellence in Military Service" from the Ministry of Defense, second degree.
  • Order of "impeccable service" of the third degree.
  • Medal "Hero of Russia".