Overview

Born on May 26, 1966, in Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk region, Russia, in what was then the Soviet Union, Sergei Vasilevich Salivanov is a Russian businessman with a military background. Known by the call sign “Salekh,” he played a key role in establishing the private military company Redut, also known as “SHIELD-STG.” Redut was initially focused on protecting oil and gas facilities in Syria under an agreement with Stroytransgaz; Salivanov served as Redut’s human resources head, as internal documents show. Recent media reports suggest Redut has become a successor to the Wagner Group and is fully controlled by the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense. Salivanov’s current level of involvement in Redut remains unclear, though he has described it as a “freelance structure” for the 45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade.

Salivanov began his military career at the Sverdlovsk Suvorov Military School, graduating in 1983. He graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 1987, alongside notable contemporaries Marat Gabidullin and Konstantin Mirzayants, who would both become Wagner members; Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who would later become a deputy minister of defense, was another contemporary who graduated two years later in 1989. Salivanov gained combat experience during the 1992 Russian peacekeeping campaign in Transnistria; the First Chechen campaign from 1994 to 1995, where he commanded a reconnaissance team in the 106th Division; and operations in Yugoslavia from 1996 to 1997. Since 1997, he has held command positions in the 106th Guards Airborne Division, focusing on troop training at the division’s base near Tula. His military service earned him the Order of Courage.

After his active military service, Salivanov became involved in various civil and cultural organizations. He served as the chairman of the special council of the regional public organization Veterans of Peacekeeping Missions and Local Conflicts. In 2014, he briefly directed the state cultural institution Association of the Historical and Local Lore and Art Museum of the Tula region. From 2012 to 2019, he led the Tula Foundation for the Revival and Development of Cultural Heritage Objects and Support of the Population. This foundation initially focused on restoring the Tula Kremlin, but from 2014 also raised funds for various patriotic projects, including aid for the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine.

Salivanov’s involvement with Redut came under scrutiny in September 2022 when a leaked recording of a meeting between Salivanov and irregular fighters in Syria revealed significant details about Redut’s operations. Salivanov disclosed that Redut had become an unofficial unit of the 45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade, based in Kubinka-1, Moscow region. He mentioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s role in financing Redut and the 45th Brigade, including providing equipment and additional pay for fighters. Salivanov also revealed that Redut was involved in training hundreds of convicted prisoners from Russia’s penal colonies for the war in Ukraine. In an interview following the leak, Salivanov did not deny his role in recruiting for Redut. Salivanov is not subject to any international sanctions as of November 2023.