Vazhnyye istorii has published a detailed report claiming that Sergey Aksenov, the head of Russian-occupied Crimea, has established his own Private Military Company (PMC), which goes by the name of Konvoy and is led by a seasoned commander of the Wagner PMC (Vazhnyye istorii, 23 March). The same report, however, links to another source that indicates Konvoy is not a new PMC at all. Let’s start with the Vaznyye istorii report. This is headlined “The Head of Crimea has founded his own PMC. It is connected with Yevgeniy Prigozhin.” The subhead then contends: “Sergey Aksenov has founded a new militarised structure on the peninsula — it is commanded by Prigozhin’s overseer in Africa.” The report then goes on to detail how recruits to the group sign one contract with the PMC, which is formally classified as an army military reserve unit (boyevoy armeyskiy rezerv, or BARS), and another with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). In return, rank-and-file members receive R200,000 a month, commanders R300,000, plus land in Crimea or Abkhazia upon completion of a year of service. The MoD contract provides guarantees to those who are wounded or killed in service. The group apparently has around 300 members at present. Its training base is reportedly in Perevalnoye. As Vazhnyye istorii details, a Telegram channel by the name of Konvoy, created in November 2022, posted a video showing Aksenov supposedly inspecting the group’s positions in Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast. A TV journalist — Olga Kurlayeva, from VGTRK — also visited the group and produced a glowing report on how well-resourced it appears. Kurlayeva’s report identified the group’s commander as Mazay, otherwise known as Konstantin Pikalov. Pikalov was sanctioned in late February by the European Union, which described him as “one of the leaders of the Wagner Group and is responsible for the operational activities of the Wagner Group in Africa, notably in the Central African Republic (CAR). He is accused of being the instigator of the murder of three Russian journalists in July 2018” (Official Journal of the European Union, 25 February). It is with the discussion of Pikalov, however, that Vazhnyye istorii’s account becomes problematic. Vazhnyye istorii cite an August 2020 investigation by Bellingcat and Insider (Bellingcat, 14 August 2020). That investigation identifies Pikalov, among other things, as “CEO of the Military Security Company ‘Convoy” (voyenno-okhrannaya kompaniya, which is not the same as a PMC, or chastnaya voyennaya kompaniya). This company was, according to Bellingcat/Insider, incorporated in 2015 with a share capital of R100 million and founded by The St Petersburg Cossack Association Convoy, which was registered in 2009. This does not invalidate any of the details provided by Vazhnyye istorii, and Konvoy certainly has not received a great deal of media attention. As Vaznyye istorii notes, Aksenov has supported Yevgeniy Prigozhin, Wagner’s owner, in his long-running feud with the MoD — and collaboration between Wagner and Aksenov or Konvoy is worth noting. It is, however, rather strange that Vazhnyye istorii frame it as a “new” PMC. The simplest explanation may be that they didn’t read the Bellingcat report carefully enough — even though they cite some of these very same details. Or, to paraphrase Harry Truman, there is nothing new in the world except the history you didn’t finish reading about. | 
