Russia: Gazprom creates militias to fight in Ukraine

The Russian hydrocarbon giant Gazprom is also engaged on the Ukrainian front. In February 2023, the company obtained permission to create its own private militia and began recruiting volunteers among its employees to fight in Ukraine. This is what the Financial Times reveals this Friday.

The Russian gas group Gazprom has created militias to fight in Ukraine. Here, a member of the Russian forces in Marinka, Donetsk region, on March 22, 2022 (Illustration image). REUTERS - ALEXANDER ERMOSHENKO

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The British daily looked at two specific battalions "Potok" and "Fakel", two units that add to the many private militias engaged on the ground.

According to two Gazprom employees interviewed by the Financial Times, recruitment began last August, targeting not the company's engineers but rather security guards. Two people had to volunteer to go into battle, says one of the employees.

The equipment will be provided by Gazprom and pay will be increased, they were told. For these employees, voluntary recruitment through their company makes it possible to keep their position and to have a more advantageous income than a soldier conscripted in the Russian army.

But on the ground, these militias are far from unanimous. In a 26-minute video broadcast on the Telegram channel in April, the leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accuses both Potok and Fakel of competing with his paramilitary unit and actually wanting to interfere in Russia's internal affairs.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, who keep an eye on these militias, their effectiveness on the front would be limited. And their interest would rather be to position themselves in advance on the chessboard according to the power games to come.

► READ ALSO: Ukraine: what game does the leader of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, play with the Russian army?

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