Kaskad, the military unit of the “hidden” of the Russian elite who came to invent a profile of “hero” in Ukraine

2023-05-08 23:13:35

By Alain Barluet

Published
yesterday at 6:27 p.m.
,
Update yesterday at 11:13 p.m.

A poster to recruit volunteers for the “special military operation” in Ukraine hangs on the front of a cafe in Moscow. Ulf Mauder/Ulf Mauder/dpa

STORY – In a society that is becoming militarized, the status of combatant is seen by some as a political springboard, especially in the run-up to the regional elections on 10 September.

Correspondent in Moscow

A few years ago, we would have spoken of the regiment of the nomenklatura. Today it is a special unit created to measure for members of the Russian elite. The sesame of those who, out of “patriotic” conviction or political opportunism, wish to participate, with limited risks, in the fighting in Ukraine and obtain the status that this confers on them. Kaskad – such is the name of this unit created last year – would have a hundred members and was based in February near Vouhledar, in the Donbass, according to a report carried out at the time by the pro-Kremlin military reporter Semion Pegov . It is only recently that a corner of the veil has been lifted on this mysterious group, thanks to some testimonies and information published on Telegram channels like VchK-OGPU.

According to this source, the creator of Kaskad is Dmitry Sablin, a deputy from the United Russia presidential party. The chosen one would have launched this initiative by reacting to the accusation brought against his son Anton…

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