On Jan 4, Border Patrol agents detained Timur Praliev when he illegally crossed the Rio Grande river into the United States. Praliev was carrying a Kazakh and Russian passport, as well as a drone in his backpack.
During interrogation, Praliev admitted to being a member of the Wagner Group, a mercenary organization sponsored by the Russian government responsible for atrocities committed in African countries and Ukraine. This fact was further confirmed by journalists from Radio Liberty, who found a VK post of Praliev receiving a combat veteran certificate, with the caption identifying the recipient as a “former employee of the Wagner PMC Timur Praliev from the Iglinsky District.” Praliev pled guilty to unlawful entry into the United States.

Praliev holding the certificate
According to Radio Liberty and court documents, Timur Praliev has a birth year of 1993. In data leaks, a man with the same name and birth year is found. Results in leaks accessed by Nordsint show that Praliev’s full name is Timur Galimzhanovich Praliev, and his precise birthday is Nov 30, 1993.

Timur Praliev at the certificate presentation
According to leaked data from Gemotest, a medical test laboratory, Praliev registered his address with the testing service in Moscow along Progonny Proezd, which is located in the Bogorodskoe district of the Eastern Administrative Okrug. This data was created in February 2022.
In a second leak from Chitai Gorod, a Russian bookstore chain, Praliev registered his location in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Praliev’s data is also found in a leak from Kazakhstan resident databases, which lists Praliev’s address in a building along Muratbaeva Street in Almaty. This data was registered on Jul 13, 2017. Further leaks from egov.kz, a website of the government of Kazakhstan lists Praliev living in Shymkent, as well as an address in Almaty along Zhubanova street. In these documents, Praliev is listed as having Kazakh nationality, a fact which he also told border agents.

Screenshot of database leaks
Kazakhstan has previously prosecuted sentenced citizens for fighting with the Wagner mercenary group, such as the case of Aleksei Shompolov, who was sentenced to 6 years and 8 months for joining Wagner.
Ryan X (Nordsint lead researcher)