Russian Mercenary Arrested at US-Mexico Border with Drone

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Border Patrol arrested a former Russian mercenary on Saturday, when he illegally crossed the Rio Grande near Roma.

Posted by LampLighter at 01:33 PM | 4 COMMENTS | permalink

This is bad, and certainly smells of an intended assassination--though obviously we cannot know that yet. But you do not bring a trained killer into the United States just to have him conduct anodyne covert drone surveillance.

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-- Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) January 10, 2025 at 8:59 AM

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More from the article...

... When agents questioned him, Praliev said "he was a citizen and national of Kazakhstan," according to a criminal complaint against him.

Praliev was carrying a Russian passport, a passport from Kazakhstan, $4,000 and 60,000 pesos.

In his backpack, agents discovered a drone.

Praliev said he'd worked for the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization affiliated with the Russian government.

"Wagner has played a key role in Russia's war in Ukraine and operates in multiple countries, particularly across Africa," according to a report published by the Congressional Research Service.

The U.S. Treasury Department considers the Wagner Group a criminal organization. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-11 01:21 AM