The son of Kremlin spokesman Dmytry Peskov, Nikolai Peskov, claimed in an interview with Russian media that he decided to serve in Ukraine with Russia’s Wagner mercenary force, CNN posted on Monday.
“I considered it my duty… I couldn’t sit on the sidelines and watch friends and other people go there,” Peskov said in an interview with Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.
“When I went there, I had to change my last name. Nobody really knew who I was.”
He said he served for nearly six months and received the Medal for Courage.
CNN could not independently verify the claims.
Children of government figures and Russia’s elite have received criticism in the past for failing to fight in Ukraine.
