Russian GRU controls so-called Redut PMC, which took part in battles in Kyiv region and eastern Ukraine - media. PHOTOS
The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff (GRU) controls and finances the Russian so-called private military company Redut, whose mercenaries took part in the full-scale invasion and battles in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and eastern Ukraine.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in the investigation of the Schemes and System projects.
The journalists identified the units within the Redut PMC, identified a hundred fighters, found out on what financial terms they signed contracts, and who gave them orders on the ground and directly supervised them from the Russian GRU.
It is noted that the Redoubt, which is positioned in Russia as a "volunteer" formation, is in fact a hidden system of recruiting mercenaries for Russian intelligence.
Through the analysis of internal documents, Russian military pages on social media, data from closed Russian bases and satellite images of Ukraine, journalists were also able to establish the path of this formation through the territory of Ukraine after 24 February: some of the mercenaries of the Redut PMC took part in hostilities in Kyiv region, then in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
"The Schemes received internal documents of the Redut PMC proving the connection with the Russian GRU, in which the fighters themselves state that they are subordinate to the GRU.
These include a report on the losses of one of Redut's units, the Wolves, or a certificate issued to a military man, which names a military unit that, according to journalists' analysis, is part of the GRU's Special Forces of the General Staff, which has been fighting in Ukraine since 2015.
The journalists also identified that at least four of the fighters in the 'Wolves' unit are former or current GRU officers - Russian databases list military intelligence or related units as their place of work and residence.
Sistema's journalists spoke to a dozen recruiters who recruit fighters for various units within the Redut, and as potential recruits, they learned at the selection stage that the so-called PMC is managed and financed by Russian intelligence.
During the investigation, the journalists also spoke to some of the Redoubt mercenaries who were captured by Ukraine in 2022 and later convicted of torturing residents of Kharkiv region. These are Ruslan Kolesnikov ("Bulat"), Mykhailo Ivanov ("Pokrov"), Valentyn Bych ("Rashid") and Maksym Volvak ("Escadra").
According to the investigation, they were going to serve in the 16th Special Forces Brigade of the GRU of the Russian General Staff. The base of this brigade is located near Tambov, where PMC fighters train before going to Ukraine.
The convicts told journalists that the orders to search for 'ATO members' and other pro-Ukrainian activists in Kharkiv region were given directly by a military man with the call sign 'Amur'. He also interrogated the detained residents. "The 'Redutivists' call 'Amur' a 'curator from the GRU'. He has not yet been identified.
In addition, the journalists exposed Colonel Alexei Kondratyev, one of the main supervisors of the so-called "volunteer corps" along the GRU line, which includes the "Redut", and Lieutenant General and Deputy Head of Russian Intelligence Vladimir Alekseev, the main initiator of the creation of this so-called "PMC". It is noted that Sergei Drozdov is most likely responsible for recruiting mercenaries to the so-called PMCs and volunteer formations.
Neither Alekseev nor Kondratiev, nor the Russian Ministry of Defence or the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, responded to journalists' questions.
