A St Petersburg clinic that is run and partly owned by people with ties to president Vladimir Putin has provided medical treatment to Russian mercenaries injured abroad, according to three people with knowledge of military contractors being treated, a clinic employee, a reporter’s witness account and company records.

The previously unreported medical treatment for private military contractors wounded in combat overseas, including in Libya and Syria, shows fighters have received indirect support from the country’s elite even as the Kremlin denies they fight abroad on its behalf.

Under Russian law, all medical organisations are obliged to report combat injuries to the police for investigation and it’s illegal for a Russian citizen to participate in armed conflict as a mercenary.

The clinic is owned by large insurance company AO Sogaz, which counts among its senior officials and owners relatives of Mr Putin and others linked to the president, according to the SPARK database, which aggregates data from business registries.

The clinic’s general director, Vladislav Baranov, also has a business relationship with Mr Putin’s elder daughter, Maria. Reuters has no evidence of the daughter’s involvement in the treatment of military contractors.

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REUTERS/Gleb Garanich GLEB GARANICH Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Seized Ukrainian ships, small armoured artillery ships and a tug boat, are seen anchored in a port of Kerch Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Volunteers with the right-wing paramilitary Azov National Corps brandish flares during a rally on the snowy streets in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. Some hundreds of protesters from far-right party National Corps brandished yellow-and-blue flags with the Ukrainian national trident symbol, and a banner reading 'Don't back down!" . (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Efrem Lukatsky AP Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, announced, on 25 November, at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council that they will introduce martial law in Ukraine for a period of 60 days and appeal to the Parliament to consider the move Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Russia seized two small-sized 'Berdiansk' and 'Nikopol' armored artillery boats. 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(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Efrem Lukatsky AP Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Policemen guard at Russian consulate during a protest action in the Black Sea Ukrainian city of Odessa AFP/Getty Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 epa07190805 Ukrainian Nationalists burn flares and smoke grenades during their rally in front of Parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine, 26 November 2018 as they demand to break the diplomatic relations with Russia and nationalization of Russian property in Ukraine. The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on 25 November 2018 announced the decision to introduce martial law in Ukraine and to appeal to the Parliament to consider the move at an extraordinary meeting. It is about the introduction of martial law for a period of 60 days. The Ukrainian Parliament will convene for an extraordinary meeting at evening 26 November 2018. Russia has seized three Ukrainian vessels amid their leaving the Kerch Strait on 25 November 2018. The two small-sized 'Berdiansk' and 'Nikopol' armored artillery boats have come under enemy fire and are now dead in the water. The 'Yany Kapu' tugboat has forcibly been stopped. The vessels have been captured by special forces of the Russian Federation, the press service of Ukraine's Navy said on Facebook on Sunday evening. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO EPA Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Activists of Ukrainian far-right groups shout slogans during their rally in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev on November 26, 2018, as they demand to set martial law in the country and to cut diplomatic relations with Russia. - Ukraine's military was on high alert and parliament was to vote on November 26 on a request from President to impose martial law for 60 days after Russian navy seized three Ukrainian ships off the coast of Crimea. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP)SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 With relations still raw after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its backing for a pro-Moscow insurgency in eastern Ukraine, the capture of three Ukrainian naval vessels risks pushing the two countries towards a wider conflict. Graphic explains how the naval incident unfolded on a map Graphic News Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Activists of far-right parties burn flares in front of the parliament building in Kiev during a rally to support the Ukrainian navy Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 A Ukraine army APC moves toward on position at an undisclosed location in eastern Ukraine AP Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Ukrainian Nationalists sign a banner with a slogan reading like 'Not retreat and not surrendering!' EPA Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Activists of Ukrainian far-right groups hold flares during their rally in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev on November 26, 2018, as they demand to set martial law in the country and to cut diplomatic relations with Russia. - Ukraine's military was on high alert and parliament was to vote on November 26 on a request from President to impose martial law for 60 days after Russian navy seized three Ukrainian ships off the coast of Crimea. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP)SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images SERGEI SUPINSKY AFP/Getty Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Activists glue Ukrainian flag on the fence of Russian consulate AFP/Getty Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 A volunteer with the right-wing paramilitary Azov National Corps during a rally on the snowy streets in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev AP Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Volunteers with the right-wing paramilitary Azov National Corps hold flares during a rally on the snowy streets in front of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev, Ukraine, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. Some hundreds of protesters from far-right party National Corps brandished yellow-and-blue flags with the Ukrainian national trident symbol, and a banner reading 'Don't back down!" (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) Efrem Lukatsky AP Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 epa07190891 Ukrainian Nationalists attend their rally in front of Parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine, 26 November 2018 as they demand to break the diplomatic relations with Russia and nationalization of Russian property in Ukraine. The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on 25 November 2018 announced the decision to introduce martial law in Ukraine and to appeal to the Parliament to consider the move at an extraordinary meeting. It is about the introduction of martial law for a period of 60 days. The Ukrainian Parliament will convene for an extraordinary meeting at evening 26 November 2018. Russia has seized three Ukrainian vessels amid their leaving the Kerch Strait on 25 November 2018. The two small-sized 'Berdiansk' and 'Nikopol' armored artillery boats have come under enemy fire and are now dead in the water. The 'Yany Kapu' tugboat has forcibly been stopped. The vessels have been captured by special forces of the Russian Federation, the press service of Ukraine's Navy said on Facebook on Sunday evening. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO SERGEY DOLZHENKO EPA Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 An activist piles up tires during a protest against the seizure by Russian special forces of three of the Ukrainian navy ships, which Russia blocked from passing through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov in the Black Sea, in front of the Russian embassy in Kiev, Ukraine November 25, 2018. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 A National Guard serviceman extinguishes a torch thrown by a protester during a rally against the seizure by Russian special forces of three of the Ukrainian navy ships Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 A protester throws a smoke grenade during a rally in front of the embassy of Russia in Kiev AP Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Protestors set up paper ships on the tires during their rally near of Russian embassy building in Kiev EPA Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Smoke from a flare thrown by a protester is seen during a rally against the seizure by Russian special forces of three of the Ukrainian navy ships, which Russia blocked from passing through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov in the Black Sea, in front of the Russian embassy in Kiev, Ukraine November 25, 2018. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich GLEB GARANICH Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 A man extinguishes a burning car of the embassy of Russia Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 Paper boats are seen placed during a protest Reuters Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 epa07190225 Ukrainian policemen guard the Russian embassy building with smoke behind during Ukrainian activists rally in Kiev, Ukraine, 25 November 2018. Russia has seized three Ukrainian vessels amid their leaving the Kerch Strait; Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is gathering the Military Cabinet over the incident. The two small-sized 'Berdiansk' and 'Nikopol' armored artillery boats have come under enemy fire and are now dead in the water. The 'Yany Kapu' tugboat has forcibly been stopped. The vessels have been captured by special forces of the Russian Federation, the press service of Ukraine's Navy said on Facebook on Sunday evening. The Ukrainian Navy also reported the number of the Ukrainian servicemen wounded in the incident grew to two persons as Ukrainian media report. EPA/STEPAN FRANKO EPA-EFE/STEPAN FRANKO EPA Protests break out after Russia seize Ukraine warships in 2018 epa07190217 A protestor throws a smoke grenade at the building during their rally near the Russian embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, 25 November 2018. Russia has seized three Ukrainian vessels amid their leaving the Kerch Strait; Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is gathering the Military Cabinet over the incident. The two small-sized 'Berdiansk' and 'Nikopol' armored artillery boats have come under enemy fire and are now dead in the water. The 'Yany Kapu' tugboat has forcibly been stopped. The vessels have been captured by special forces of the Russian Federation, the press service of Ukraine's Navy said on Facebook on Sunday evening. The Ukrainian Navy also reported the number of the Ukrainian servicemen wounded in the incident grew to two persons as Ukrainian media report. EPA/STEPAN FRANKO EPA-EFE/STEPAN FRANKO EPA

Reached by phone, Mr Baranov told Reuters: “Forget about our clinics, that’s my advice for you.” In response to written questions, he said: “I don’t want to communicate with you.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We have no information on this at all.” The defence ministry, Sogaz and Mr Putin’s daughter did not respond to requests for comment.

Russian private military contractors have clandestinely fought in support of Russian forces in Syria and Ukraine, Reuters and other media have previously reported. The contractors are recruited by a private military group known as Wagner Group whose members are mostly ex-service personnel.

Wagner fighters were also deployed in Libya to support eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, according to two former Wagner military contractors. Mr Haftar is battling against the internationally recognised government in Tripoli.

The Russian state denies it uses mercenaries and has said those fighting in Ukraine and Syria are volunteers. Putin has said that Russian private military contractors were present in Syria, but that they provided security services and that they have nothing to do with the Russian state or its army and have the right to work in any country as long as they don’t violate Russian law by taking part in combat.

Mr Putin, when asked at his annual news conference on 19 December about the presence of Russian mercenaries in Libya, said: “Do you believe what Western media report? Do you believe everything?”

Putin: ‘Do you believe what Western media report? Do you believe everything?’ (Getty)

Russia, he added, was in contact with both Libya’s internationally recognised prime minister, Fayez al-Serraj, and Khalifa Haftar.

Wagner Group’s founder, Dmitry Utkin, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Wounded Commander

Smoking a cigarette in the clinic’s backyard in late October, Alexander Kuznetsov said he had been to Libya and that Russians there were “fighting international terrorism to protect Moscow’s interests”.

He sported bandages and attached to his arm was a metal device that is an external metal fixation device of the type used to treat complex bone injuries. He declined to discuss his injuries.

A former Wagner fighter who was treated at the clinic and another private military contractor, when presented with a photograph of Mr Kuznetsov, identified him as the commander of a Wagner Group assault unit who had been injured while fighting in Libya.

The Sogaz clinic has offered services to Wagner fighters since at least 2016 (Reuters)

Mr Kuznetsov confirmed he was a private military commander, but didn’t specify for which group.

The clinic, which opened in 2010, is one of a string of private medical facilities Sogaz has opened across Russia, according to the company’s website.

The Sogaz clinic has offered services to Wagner fighters since at least 2016, according to the former Wagner fighter who was treated at the clinic.

He said he had been treated for an injury in recent years in the same clinic along with five or six other wounded mercenaries. He had sustained the injury in Syria, he said.

Another Wagner contractor had received medical treatment at the Sogaz clinic after also being severely wounded in Syria, his mother told Reuters.

Russian private military contractors have clandestinely fought in support of Russian forces in Syria and Ukraine (AFP)

In both cases, medical services were free of charge for the fighters, the contractor and the mother said. They said they did not know who covered the expenses.

The mother said that one of the medical services her son had received cost $10,000 (£7,600), something she learned from medical documents. Reuters didn’t review these documents and was unable to confirm this.

Asked who was paying for his treatment, Mr Kuznetsov, the injured commander, also said he did not know.

Sogaz provides Russian army personnel and members of Russia’s National Guard with life and health insurance, according to an official government database of state contracts.

Ties to Putin

Putin’s elder daughter is co-founder and a board member of another business that the clinic’s general director Mr Baranov is also general director of, a medical company called AO Nomeko, according to company records in the SPARK database and the company’s website.

Nomeko lists the Sogaz unit that runs the clinic treating mercenaries as one of its “partners” on its website, without providing more specifics.

She has previously pursued a biomedical career specialising in the endocrine system and did so using a married name, Faassen, Reuters has reported.

Putin’s daughter now uses Vorontsova as her last name, according to references to her previously published research articles on the website of the medical research institute where she works.

Maria has not publicly confirmed being Putin’s daughter and the Russian president says little about his family life.

A police department in charge of St Petersburg did not respond to a request for comment about whether the clinic had reported treatment of fighters injured overseas.

Sogaz’s deputy chief executive is Mikhail Putin, who according to local media is a son of one of Putin’s cousins. The Kremlin has confirmed he is a distant relative of the president.

A son of another Putin cousin, Mikhail Shelomov, owns a 12.5 per cent stake in Sogaz through a company called Accept, according to official company records.

Yuri Kovalchuk, whom Mr Putin has publicly referred to as a friend, and his wife hold a stake in Sogaz indirectly, according to company records. The couple own nearly half of a company that controls 32.3 per cent of Sogaz through another firm called OOO Akvila, the records show.

And, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller, who worked at the St Petersburg mayor’s office in the 1990s with Mr Putin before he became president, chairs Sogaz’s board of directors, according to the company’s website and company records.

Mikhail Putin, Mr Shelomov, the Kovalchuks, and Mr Miller didn’t respond to requests for comment about the clinic treating private military contractors injured in combat overseas. Gazprom declined to comment in response to questions addressed to Mr Miller and Mikhail Putin.

Akvila and the company the Kovalchuks indirectly hold their stake in Sogaz via couldn’t be reached for comment.