Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmytro Peskov, on Monday announced his son’s decision to fight in Ukraine on the side of the “Wagner” mercenaries, and not in the armed forces of the Russian Federation, reports Interfax.

Kremlin journalists asked Peskov during his daily press conference to confirm his son’s claims that he fought in a “special operation” as part of Wagner’s group, and also asked him why Mykola Peskov decided to enlist in Yevgeny Prigozhin’s paramilitary formation instead of regular ones Russian troops.

“Once he served in the armed forces. He fulfilled his constitutional duty. He made such a decision, he is an adult. Yes, indeed, he took part in a special operation,” Dmytro Peskov answered briefly.

That his son might have fought in Ukraine has become one of the most talked-about news stories in Russia in recent days after Prigozhin said so in a video interview released on Saturday.

What he told about the military service of “Wagner” Peskov Jr.

“Of all my acquaintances – I will say this for the first time – one person, Dmytro Sergeyevich Peskov, who at one time had the reputation of a complete liberal… His son, who lived for some time in America, if I am not mistaken, or in England, he came and asked , so that he was taken as a simple gunner. And he did a great job as a simple gunner, knee deep in mud and shit, with the Hurricane (reactive salvo fire system). Few people know about him,” said the head of Wagner PMC in an interview with RIA FAN military correspondent Oleksandr Simonov.

Mykola Peskov, in turn, told about this in his own interview, given literally a day later to “Komsomolskaya Pravda”.

“It was on my initiative. I considered it my duty,” said Mykola, whose father has been Putin’s press secretary since 2008.

He stated that he performed the contract for almost six months under an assumed name to hide his true identity and that he received the Medal of Valor.

When asked how his father feels about his service, Mykola answered: “I think he is proud of me. My father told me that I made the right decision.”

As Peskov’s son, he refused to join the Russian army

Mykola Peskov was born in 1990 and lived in the UK for ten years after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, before returning to Russia, where he served in the Strategic Missile Forces from 2010 to 2012.

Last September, an associate of dissident Alexei Navalny, who identified himself as a Russian military man, called Peskov Jr. and asked him to appear before the Military Commissariat shortly after Vladimir Putin announced a decree on “partial mobilization” in Russia.

Peskov told her he wasn’t going anywhere and would deal with the situation at a “different level,” according to a tape of the conversation posted online that sparked outrage in Russia.

“Of course I won’t be here at 10am tomorrow. I am Mr. Peskov, you must understand that I am not very honest to be there. I will take it to another level. I need to understand in general what is happening and what rights I have (…) I have no problem defending my Motherland, but I need to understand whether it is possible to be there – I am talking about certain political nuances,” he said.

When asked whether he was ready to sign up as a volunteer, Mykola Peskov answered in the negative.

Dmytro Peskov, who worked for the Foreign Ministry in Moscow and abroad before climbing the Kremlin’s career ladder, was sanctioned by the United States soon after the war, along with his wife and two grown children, Mykola and Elizaveta.

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