![[Mozart Group flag]](../images/u/us_tmg.jpg)
image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
Last modified: 2023-03-18 by rick wyatt
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image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
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The Mozart Group was (source)
a private military company (source)
operating in Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine (source). The Mozart Group was composed of Western volunteers (mainly U.S. Marines)
with military experience and provided military training, civilian evacuations
and SAR (Search and Rescue) and humanitarian aid distribution. It
is not directly involved in combat (other than self-defence) (source),
its volunteers do not carry weapons (source:
source) and it is compliant with the US Neutrality Acts which prohibit U.S.
citizens from joining foreign militaries or launching wars against countries
not at war with the U.S (source).
Right after the full-scale invasion of Russian Forces of Ukraine, on
February 24, 2021, Andrew Milburn, a British-born retired U.S. Marine
Colonel Deputy Commander of Special Operations Command Central, "traveled to
Kyiv as a freelance journalist weeks after the Russian invasion in February,
where he presented five stories for Task & Purpose, a military website"
(source).
Later on, The Mozart Group was founded by him and Andrew Bain, also a former
U.S. Marine Colonel who had been living in Ukraine since 1992, who became the
CFO of the Group, when the group was founded in mid-March 2021 (source).
In mid-April, two weeks after his latest report "Milburn explained in an
article for Newsweek (source) that his work at Tusk & Purpose seemed trivial at the outbreak of war, so
he decided to organize a military training after people he knew from previous
visits asked him to help the Ukrainian military.
With US military
personnel largely out of the country and US diplomats leaving in the early
days of the Russian invasion, Milburn attracted a great deal of media
attention and was one of the few Americans on the ground with combat
experience working with Ukrainians, willing to speak with journalists, and
frequently interviewed on satellite channels." (source).
"Milburn co-founded the Mozart Group together with Andrew Bain, a
businessman and fellow former Marine colonel who had been working in Ukraine
in media and marketing for over 30 years. After the commencement of the
Russo-Ukrainian War, Bain set up the Ukrainian Freedom Fund in 2014 (source) (official websites:
https://ukrfreedomfund.org and
https://www.theuff.org), a U.S. 501(c)(3)
charitable organisation registered Wyoming-based LLC (Limited Liability
Company) that procured equipment for the Ukrainian military with money
collected through donations.
Bain came to hold a 51% ownership stake in Mozart and act as CEO, while
Milburn owned a 49% stake. (source). UFF received endorsements from National Security and Defense
Council of Ukraine, European Business Association, National Guard of
Ukraine, US-Ukraine Business Council and EU-Ukraine Business Council."
After founding The Mozart Group, Milburn set up an office in Kyiv and began
soliciting donations.[2] The group subsequently relocated from Kyiv to the
Donbas.
The Mozart Group, LLC is a Wyoming registered company.
The
name of the group was chosen as a witty reference and counterpoint to the
Russian mercenary Wagner Group,[2][3] both
groups thus being named for German-speaking composers.
As they describe themselves,
"Our mission is to build sustainable capacity in the Ukraine military
(source) that will enable it to evict Russian troops from Ukrainian soil while
undermining Russia’s military and national resolve to continue the war. We do
this through training, equipping, and advising Ukraine SOF (Special Operation
Forces) and "Resistance units" (Territorial
Defence Forces).
A vital
component of our mission is battlefield clearance (through EOD, Explosive
ordnance disposal)— removing the tons of un-expended ordnance, mines and
booby traps that litter the area previously occupied by Russian troops. Our
goal is to enable the people of Ukraine to return to their homes and begin
rebuilding their lives, free from threat. Additionally, we are
expanding our activities to include comprehensive military information
support operations designed to inform and influence frontline Russian troops
of the realities of fighting an illegal war in Ukraine.
The Group
conducts a continuous assessment of Ukrainian and Russian techniques, tactics
and procedures to ensure that its support keeps pace with dynamic conditions
in the field. (source)"
By August,
2022 Mozart had deployed three teams of former soldiers, two military
training teams and one to get civilians off the front line (source).
In November 2022, Intelligence Online reported that Mozart intends to transform into a conventional for-profit
private military contractor, and expand its operations to other countries
(the later claim being confirmed by Mozart's COO). In December 2022, Milburn expressed concern that Mozart Group may run
short on funds in early 2023.
The current operation status of the group is inactive due mainly to
lack of funds. Additionally, there is a current lawsuit filed on January 10,
2023 by one of its shareholders and former CFO, against its founder accusing
him of violating ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) regulations as
well as other misconducts like diverting funds to other existing organizations such as Task
Force Sunflower, Inc. (TFS), a Florida based corporation
(which is the actual Non profit and 501(c)(3) charitable organization), claiming
to be an NGO and Safehouse Global, an organization operated by Reel Holdings,
LLC of Jackson, Wyoming which focuses on
cryptocurrency. This was followed by counter accusations in social media by
the accused.
Milburn has expressed that the end of operations was January
31, 2023 althugh the effort continues, perhaps under a new organization. Moreover, there's at least one report that suggests that Bain may have
tried to sell off his stake in the company as well as other rather dubious
dealings. Furthermore, "although it’s normal for a startup to fall out of a
dispute, it doesn’t often happen in an active war zone. Interesting
information suggests that there are efforts to profit from Mozart’s
high-profile business in Ukraine by transforming it into a private military
company with global aspirations."
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_Group
The flag is a
dark olive green horizontal background with the logo in the middle inside a
shield an the name above the logo, based on the shoulder patch insignia.
For additional information go to The Mozart Grop (official website):
https://www.themozartgroup.com
Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
![[Mozart Group flag]](../images/u/us_tmg2).jpg)
image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
The logo resembles a reverse trident (source) which is Ukraine's coat of arms.
Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
![[flag]](../images/u/us_uff2.jpg)
image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
from
https://www.facebook.com/ukrfreedomfund
Logo
![[flag]](../images/u/us_uff2).gif)
image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
from
https://www.facebook.com/ukrfreedomfund
![[flag]](../images/u/us_uff.jpg)
image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
from
https://www.facebook.com/ukrfreedomfund
Logo
![[flag]](../images/u/us_uff).gif)
image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
from
https://www.facebook.com/ukrfreedomfund
Both the former and the current flags are in use.
Esteban Rivera, 21 February 2023
