Gabidullin: A True Mercenary Spreading Russia’s Influence in Syria, the World

Wagner PMC's Marat Gabidullin in Syria | Facebook
Wagner PMC's Marat Gabidullin in Syria | Facebook
TT

Gabidullin: A True Mercenary Spreading Russia’s Influence in Syria, the World

Wagner PMC's Marat Gabidullin in Syria | Facebook
Wagner PMC's Marat Gabidullin in Syria | Facebook

“I am a true mercenary and a patriotic soldier. I believe that great Russia is like an octopus. Its duty is to extend its arms across the world, and Syria is a part of it. We must win the war there. The problem is that fighters at the Wagner private military company (PMC) are not as competent as they should be.”

“I paid the price for my convictions and lost my kidney. It was necessary to send out a cry for reforming this army so that it is able to restore the greatness of Russia everywhere.”

Those are the statements that were reported by people who had met with Marat Gabidullin, a prominent member of Wagner PMC, over the last two days in Moscow.

Gabidullin was recently the victim of extensive harassment over his memoir, “Ded Martin” (Grandpa Martin), which was sent to a publishing house in Siberia. Apart from Russian parties threatening his family, Gabidullin also had his book withdrawn from publishing.

The memoir exposed undisclosed details about the work of Wagner PMC in Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and possibly Sudan.

In “Ded Martin,” Gabidullin talks about the horrors he braved after joining the Syrian war in 2015.

A landmine explosion in March 2016 cost Gabidullin his kidney and damaged his liver.

He also goes over his work as a special advisor to the alleged owner of Wagner PMC and business magnate Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2017.

After being injured, Gabidullin assumed training “ISIS hunters” in Syrian boot camps in 2018. Shortly after, he retired and devoted his time to writing his personal memoir.

It is noteworthy that Gabidullin’s social media accounts are filled with pictures of him posing with fighters, soldiers, and Syrian Army officers.

Comrades who were in Gabidullin’s unit were affected by his statements in both the memoir and an interview he had with “Meduza,” in which he recounted how a Russian airstrike mistakenly struck their positions.

He also recalled details of how some brothers in arms decapitated Syrian Army soldiers and beat them with sledgehammers to set an example for others who were thinking about deserting their positions at ongoing battles in the Homs countryside.



Palestinian Olympic Team Greeted with Cheers and Gifts in Paris

Palestinian athletes Yazan Al Bawwab and Valerie Tarazi try a date offered to them by a young supporter upon arriving to the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Roissy, north of Paris, France. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)
Palestinian athletes Yazan Al Bawwab and Valerie Tarazi try a date offered to them by a young supporter upon arriving to the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Roissy, north of Paris, France. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)
TT

Palestinian Olympic Team Greeted with Cheers and Gifts in Paris

Palestinian athletes Yazan Al Bawwab and Valerie Tarazi try a date offered to them by a young supporter upon arriving to the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Roissy, north of Paris, France. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)
Palestinian athletes Yazan Al Bawwab and Valerie Tarazi try a date offered to them by a young supporter upon arriving to the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Roissy, north of Paris, France. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

Palestinian Olympic athletes were greeted with a roar of a crowd and gifts of food and roses as they arrived in Paris on Thursday, ready to represent war–torn Gaza and the rest of the territories on a global stage.

As the beaming athletes walked through a sea of Palestinian flags at the main Paris airport, they said they hoped their presence would serve as a symbol amid the Israel-Hamas war that has claimed more than 39,000 Palestinian lives.

Athletes, French supporters and politicians in the crowd urged the European nation to recognize a Palestinian state, while others expressed outrage at Israel's presence at the Games after UN-backed human rights experts said Israeli authorities were responsible for “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

“France doesn’t recognize Palestine as a country, so I am here to raise the flag,” said Yazan Al-Bawwab, a 24-year-old Palestinian swimmer born in Saudi Arabia. “We're not treated like human beings, so when we come play sports, people realize we are equal to them.”

"We're 50 million people without a country," he added.

Al-Bawwab, one of eight athletes on the Palestinian team, signed autographs for supporters and plucked dates from a plate offered by a child in the crowd.

The chants of “free Palestine” echoing through the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport show how conflict and the political tension are rippling through the Olympic Games. The world is coming together in Paris at a moment of global political upheaval, multiple wars, historic migration and a deepening climate crisis, all issues that have risen to the forefront of conversation in the Olympics.

In May, French President Emmanuel Macron said he prepared to officially recognize a Palestinian state but that the step should “come at a useful moment” when emotions aren’t running as high. That fueled anger by some like 34-year-old Paris resident Ibrahim Bechrori, who was among dozens of supporters waiting to greet the Palestinian athletes in the airport.

“I'm here to show them they're not alone, they're supported," Bechrouri said. Them being here “shows that the Palestinian people will continue to exist, that they won't be erased. It also means that despite the dire situation, they're staying resilient. They're still a part of the world and are here to stay.”

Palestinian ambassador to France Hala Abou called for France to formally recognize a Palestinian state and for a boycott of the Israeli Olympic delegation. Abou has previously said she has lost 60 relatives in the war.

“It’s welcome that comes as no surprise to the French people, who support justice, support the Palestinian people, support their inalienable right to self-determination,” she said.

That call for recognition comes just a day after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a scathing speech to Congress during a visit to Washington, which was met with protests. He declared he would achieve “total victory” against Hamas and called those protesting the war on college campuses and elsewhere in the US “useful idiots” for Iran.

Israel's embassy in Paris echoed the International Olympic Committee in a “decision to separate politics from the Games.”

"We welcome the Olympic Games and our wonderful delegation to France. We also welcome the participation of all the foreign delegations," the Embassy wrote in a statement to The Associated Press. “Our athletes are here to proudly represent their country, and the entire nation is behind to support them.”

The AP has made multiple attempts to speak with Israeli athletes without success.

Even under the best of circumstances, it is difficult to maintain a vibrant Olympics training program in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. That's become next to impossible in nine months of war between Israel and Hamas as much of the country's sporting infrastructure have been devastated.

Among the large Palestinian diaspora worldwide, many of the athletes on the team were born or live elsewhere, yet they care deeply about the politics of their parents’ and grandparents’ homeland. Among them was Palestinian American swimmer Valerie Tarazi, who handed out traditional keffiyehs to supporters surrounding her Thursday.

“You can either crumble under pressure or use it as energy,” she said. “I chose to use it as energy.”