A former alleged Russian mercenary was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents earlier this month after crossing the Rio Grande into Texas.
Timur Praliev, a Kazakhstani national, was captured on January 4 after wading across the river from Mexico. Authorities say Praliev was carrying multiple forms of identification, including a Russian passport and a Kazakhstani passport, along with $4,000 in American cash and 60,000 Mexican pesos. Border Patrol agents also discovered a drone in the man’s backpack, according to a report from Texas Scorecard.
Praliev allegedly told authorities he had previously worked for the Wagner Group, a notorious Russian-backed paramilitary group known for its involvement in “combat zone” operations across Ukraine, Syria, and Africa.
According to a criminal complaint, Praliev was formally charged with illegal entry into the United States and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker in McAllen on January 7. The alleged former mercenary pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to time served as well as an accompanying fine.
The arrest and subsequent investigation illustrate broader concerns about national security and the increasing number of illegal aliens from what could be perceived as “adversarial” nations attempting to enter the U.S.
Nearly 2,000 Russians have been detained at the Texas-Mexico border since 2021, according to a December 2024 report by a Texas House committee on hostile foreign threats.
“Migrants are increasingly coming from Russia, China, and Iran. … Governor Abbott’s directives, and the recommendations in this report, make clear that protecting Texas from hostile foreign organizations requires a whole of government response,” the report states.
According to an additional study from the Global Initiative Against Trans-National Crime, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven thousands of Russians to flee their home country to avoid political persecution, while migration from Central Asia, especially Uzbekistan, has also increased.
Many of these illegal aliens are reaching the U.S. with the help of Russian-speaking smuggling networks operating in Turkey, Central America, and Mexico.
Further data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that there were over 2.3 million encounters with “irregular” migrants at the southern border in 2022. While Russian nationals made up only 1% of that total, their numbers surged fourfold compared to the year before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. By March 2023, encounters with Russian nationals reached a record 30,500, up sharply from just 467 in 2020, according to Global Initiative.