Remember this guy? He was the founder and leader of the Wagner Group, an organization of Russian mercenaries utilized by Vladimir Putin to carry out his dastardly deeds in far-off lands such as Syria, Libya, Sudan, Niger, and the Central African Republic, among others . . . not the least of them being Ukraine, since Putin’s invasion in February of 2022.

Prigozhin felt that Putin’s military leaders in Ukraine weren’t pursuing his “special military operation” aggressively enough, so in the summer of 2023, he and some of his Wagner troops staged a revolt against Putin . . . a collossally stupid, if bizarrely courageous, thing to do.

The Wagner forces were halted before reaching Moscow, and there followed a period of several weeks in which Prigozhin’s whereabouts — and his future — were uncertain. But he appeared to have survived Putin’s wrath . . . until that fateful day in August of 2023, when his private plane mysteriously crashed somewhere north of Moscow, reportedly killing Prigozhin and several of his top associates, in addition to the plane’s crew.

You just don’t mess with Putin. Ever.

But despite the loss of its leader, the Wagner Group itself did not cease to exist. While a number of its members reportedly distanced themselves from the organization, those who remained were reorganized by Putin, renamed the Africa Corps, and reassigned wherever they were most useful to him . . . including in Ukraine, fighting alongside the Russian military.

And on January 4th of this brand-new year 2025, one of its members — 31-year-old Timur Praliev — was detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents while trying to cross the Rio Grande River from Mexico into the United States near the border town of Roma, Texas. He carried with him in a backpack two passports, cash . . . and a drone. [Carl Schreck, Mark Krutov, Mike Eckel and Ramazan Alpaut, RFE/RL, January 10, 2025.]

Initially charged by Border Patrol with illegally entering the U.S. — a federal misdemeanor — he pled guilty. He appeared before a judge at the federal courthouse in McAllen, Texas, on January 7th, where he stated (through an interpreter) that he was a citizen of Kazakhstan, and admitted to being a member of the Wagner Group.

Because he had been carrying both Russian and Kazakh passports, as well as US $4,000 and 60,000 pesos — and let’s not overlook that drone — there were concerns regarding his ties to the Wagner Group, and the federal prosecutor requested that Praliev be held for 15 days. The judge sentenced him on the illegal entry charge to time served, but ordered Praliev to remain in custody while U.S. authorities continue to investigate. [Billal Rahman, Newsweek, January 10, 2025.]

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According to an online account published on Russian social media, a man by the name of Timur Praliev, and fitting the description of the suspect detained at the U.S.-Mexican border, had been the recipient of an award presented on December 12, 2024, by the Bashkortostan (Russia) branch of Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation — a group established by Vladimir Putin in 2023 to support combat veterans of the war in Ukraine. In the online post, the man was identified as a “former employee” of the Wagner Group. [RFE/RL, op.cit.]

Further investigation by RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty also indicates that they are one and the same person. [Id.]

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda McColgan is cited as saying during Praliev’s court appearance that the U.S. Government “is concerned about [the] safety of the community when this defendant is released” due to his affiliation with Wagner . . . “a group associated with political violence.” [Id.]

A U.S. magistrate judge has ordered Praliev to remain in federal custody. No immediate comment was received from the U.S. Attorney’s office for Southern Texas or from the regional office of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, and his present location has not been made public. [Id.]

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Needless to say, questions abound . . . questions to which we may never know all of the answers. For example, how did this man travel from Russia (or Kazakhstan) all the way to the Mexico-U.S. border? Through South America? Which countries? How did he make his way through Mexico without being detected?

And how did he expect to get into the United States with that drone? Not incidentally, what kind of drone was it, and what did he plan to do with it?

Even more importantly: Who sent him? With $4,000 in U.S. money, and nearly another $3,000 equivalent in pesos, odds are he was not here on his own.

And finally: How many more, just like him, are already here, or preparing to sneak across our borders? Why are we the only country in the free world that is accused of being racist for trying to control illegal entry onto our territory?

The United States was built by immigrants — legal immigrants — happily including my grandparents. But those people came to work, and grow, and find a better life for their children . . . not to destroy what had already been built here.

The hard question is: How do we remain the country that has always welcomed the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” while protecting the sanctity and security of our precious land?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/10/25