Dmitry Utkin

Dmitry Valerievich Utkin (; born 11 June 1970), is a Russian former GRU special forces officer, who served as a lieutenant colonel. He is considered the founder of Wagner Group, with his own call-sign reportedly being "Wagner". Utkin has received four Orders of Courage.
Early life.
Dmitry Valerievich Utkin was born on 11 June 1970, into the family of a geologist in the Siberian city of Asbest, Sverdlovsk Oblast of the Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. He was married to Elena Shcherbinina, but divorced in the early 2000s. 
Military career.
Russia and Slavonic Corps.
Dmitry Utkin served as the commander of the 700th Separate Special Detachment of the 2nd Separate Special Brigade of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU), stationed in Pechora, Pskov Oblast, until 2013. After retiring, he joined the Slavonic Corps, fighting on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the civil war in 2013. Despite this, he returned to Moscow in October.
Wagner Group.
Almost immediately after returning to Russia, Utkin reportedly created his own mercenary group. Utkin, who is reportedly a Nazi sympathizer, had the call-sign "Wagner", presumably in honour of Richard Wagner, Adolf Hitler's favourite composer. Utkin and his "Wagner Group", as well as several veterans of the Slavonic Corps were seen both in Crimea in February 2014 and then in Donbass, where they for the pro-Russian separatists during the Russo-Ukrainian War. "Gazeta.ru" reports that Utkin and his men could have been involved in the killing of several field commanders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.
Dmitry Utkin was seen in Kremlin during the celebration of Fatherland's Heroes Day on 9 December 2016. He attended the celebration as a laureate of four Orders of Courage, and was photographed with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary for the Russian President, admitted that Utkin was indeed among the invitees, but did not comment on his connection with the mercenaries.
"RBK" reported that after completing a training in Krasnodar Krai, Utkin and his men returned to Syria in 2015. Soon after the start of the Russian aerial strikes, reports emerged on the deaths of Russian mercenaries fighting on the ground. Several images spread in the social media apparently depicting armed Russian men killed during the Battle of Palmyra in March 2016. "Sky News" had reported that approximately 500 to 600 people, mostly Wagner mercenaries, were killed in Syria in 2016.
In June 2017, the United States imposed sanctions against Dmitry Utkin as the head of Wagner Group. In November 2017, "RBK" reported the appointment of Utkin as CEO of Concord Management and Consulting, the managing company of the restaurant holding owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is believed to be the financier of Wagner Group.
In 2020, he was reportedly spotted in Syria, wearing a Wehrmacht cap.