Because of Tesla buses: doubts about Wagner’s war effort by Peskow’s son

The son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is said to have fought for Russia as a soldier in the Wagner mercenary unit in Ukraine. The head of the mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said so over the weekend.

Peskow’s son, whom he did not name, had served under an assumed name as an artilleryman in the ranks of the Wagnerian troops. Prigozhin gave no evidence of the front line. He praised Peskov’s son, who was described as Nikolai Choles, for his courage and thought that other sons of high-ranking Russian politicians should follow his example.

However, now there are doubts about the actual presence of Choles at the front. The reason: his car, a Tesla. This was seen several times in Moscow during the alleged front-line operation – and fined, writes the Russian internet newspaper Meduza.

According to the report, the driver of the Tesla Model X broke traffic laws in July and November 2022, around the time Choles was reportedly at war. Surveillance cameras recorded that the Tesla was exceeding the speed limit.

The Tesla with the license plate seen in the photos is said to belong to Choles, Meduza says he has two liability policies in his name.

Further doubts are fueled by comments from current and former gunners of the Wagner troop on Telegram, according to the internet newspaper. As a result, Choles was seen “neither on the Soledar nor on the Bachmut front”.

It is therefore suspected in the social media that the front-line deployment of the senior politician’s son could be a PR lie by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. In the past, Prigozhin has often criticized the fact that the sons of high-ranking and wealthy Russians are “hidden” from military service. In particular, he attacked representatives of the Russian army, namely Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.