Crimea's governor Aksyonov creates his own PMC run by Prigozhin's associate

Mazai is the "right hand" of the Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to Russian Important stories.

The Telegram channel of the Convoy PMC was created in mid-November 2022. In addition to urging people to join this PMC, it publishes texts about "strong Orthodox Russia" and "Ukrainian Satanists," "the victorious nation," as well as conspiracy theories, the journalists note.

According to the article, the positions of the Convoy are currently located in the occupied part of the Kherson region, which is neighboring Crimea.

The PMC training ground is located “in the village of Perevalne near Crimea”. In the same village, there is a training center for snipers who are part of the unit.

In March 2023, Krym 24 TV channel aired a report about the ''Aksyonov fighters'', a professional military unit that was founded by the governor of the annexed Crimea. The report stated that Aksyonov regularly visits "the unit's positions on the front line." Shortly before that, the Convoy Telegram channel posted a video of Aksyonov checking the positions of the PMC.

In February, journalist Olga Kurlayeva visited the positions of the Convoy and noted the unit's modern weapons, including T-80 and T-90 tanks.  According to Kurlayeva, the group receives supplies, equipment and weapons at the expense of extra-budgetary funds obtained by the head of Crimea.

Kurlayeva's report also showed the commander of the Convoy, a mercenary with the call sign Mazai. The journalists recognized him as Konstantin Pikalov, the curator of the Wagner PMC in Africa. The Bellingcat investigative group, Der Spiegel and The Insider journalists called Pikalov one of the key figures in Prigozhin's "African project," which included political, commercial and military work in several countries on the continent.

"This is Aksyonov's PMC, but the entire command is former employees of Wagner's PMC. Everyone has known each other for a long time," said another former Convoy mercenary.

• On March 23, it became known that Prigozhin may reduce the presence of his mercenaries in the war against Ukraine and focus on activities in Africa.