{"id":11849,"date":"2017-09-09T12:48:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-09T12:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/?p=11849"},"modified":"2017-09-09T12:51:39","modified_gmt":"2017-09-09T12:51:39","slug":"russian-contract-soldiers-prefer-far-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/russian-contract-soldiers-prefer-far-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian contract soldiers prefer to serve in the Far East rather than go to Donbas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russian contract soldiers, who went through the war in Donbas, try to avoid further service in military districts and units, which are more often involved in Ukrainian deployments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

OSINT investigations are all about noticing the details. A seemingly harmless picture or a careless comment can put OSINT investigators on a trail. In this short investigation InformNapalm international community will look into a case of Russian serviceman who chose to serve in the Russian Far East rather than stay closer to home and run a risk of another Ukrainian deployment.<\/p>\n

In the profile of one Arthur Arsenov we found an interesting photo uploaded in October 2014. The photo shows two soldiers sitting on a BTR-80 rushing along the road with outside-mounted load. The photo has a noteworthy caption: “to ukr…”<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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We studied the profile, which contained the photo and identified its owner, and traced the way of this Russian serviceman from the 7th Military Base in Abkhazia to the 60th Motorized Rifle Brigade (MRB) stationed in Russian Far East.<\/p>\n

Artur Bagavov<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Date of birth (DOB): 12\/22\/1990. His relatives reside in Kislovodsk city, Stavropol Krai. Botlikh city, Dagestan Republic is also mentioned in his data.<\/p>\n

Accounts on social networks:\u00a0VK<\/a> (archived profile<\/a>, album<\/a>, contacts<\/a>), OK1<\/a> with limited access, OK2<\/a>\u00a0inactive since 2008.<\/p>\n

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Judging by the photos and comments to A. Bagavov\u2019s photo album, in 2014 he was serving as a contract soldier in the snipers company of the 7th Military Base (military unit No. 09332, Gudauta, Georgia, occupied Abkhazia) of the Southern Military District, Russia. Since late spring, he was at the Ashuluk training range (Astrakhan Oblast) serving in the battalion tactical group (BTG) of the 7th Military Base. From that training range, this combined unit was transferred to Rostov Oblast first, and then went on a combat deployment to Ukraine (most of the photos from Ashuluk were uploaded to his album in 2015 and 2016).<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A. Bagavov left military service in the end of September or in the beginning of October 2014. The reason for the contract termination was most likely the fear of being sent on another Ukrainian deployment. InformNapalm reported more than once about high staff turnover and massive dismissals of contract servicemen from the 7th Military Base:<\/p>\n