The Presnensky District contains some of the more affluent neighbourhoods in the Russian capital of Moscow. It is home to the Moscow Zoo, the city’s bustling financial district, and the Patriarshy Ponds, site of Mikhail Bulgakov’s legendary novel, The Master and Margarita.
Apart from its impressive sites, the district is also home to the Grusha Martial Arts Club—a popular combat sports training facility that moonlights as a recruitment center for the Wagner Group, a private Russian paramilitary unit made up of mercenaries actively participating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Grusha Martial Arts Club, which offers classes to children as well as adults, was Wagner’s first attempt at recruiting mercenaries for the ongoing war from local MMA gyms.