Wagner mercenary chief orders his men to stop taking prisoners and ‘kill everyone’ after video emerges claiming Ukrainians shoot Russian POW
- The Wagner Telegram channel has not verified the authenticity of the recording or its source
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his men fighting in the flashpoint eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut will kill rival soldiers and take no more prisoners.
He responded to a message from a Wagner-affiliated Telegram channel with an alleged recording of two Ukrainians deciding to shoot a Russian “prisoner of war,” who looked more like a wounded Ukrainian soldier in a dugout.
The broadcaster has not said where the recording came from and there is no way to verify its authenticity.
“We will kill everyone on the battlefield. Take no more prisoners of war!’ Prigozhin said in an audio recording on Sunday.
“We don’t know the name of our man who was shot by Ukrainians,” Prigozhin said, adding that his group was required by international law to “take care of, treat and not hurt” prisoners of war.
Ukrainian soldier kills a wounded Wagner fighter with an AK-74 in the outskirts of Bakhmut
Ukrainian soldier kills a wounded Wagner fighter with an AK-74 in the outskirts of Bakhmut
He said his group did not want to violate international law and would kill all soldiers on the battlefield.
Wagner’s presence has been reported in conflict zones, including Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Mali and the Central African Republic, where it has been accused of abuse.
Moscow and Kiev have repeatedly accused each other of killing POWs since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to invade Ukraine more than a year ago.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Russian “beasts” in April after a video appeared to show the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner.
Prigozhin denied allegations from a Russian NGO and a Wagner deserter that members of his force were responsible.
This latest incident comes after Ukraine said in March it identified a soldier who was shot dead in a viral video.
The footage – which was widely circulated on social media – showed what appears to be a detained Ukrainian fighter smoking in a shallow trench. Moments after saying “Glory to Ukraine,” he is shot and sinks to the ground.
The sentence of the allegedly detained Ukrainian soldier was trending on social media on Monday. Kiev officials blamed Russian troops and called for justice.
“According to preliminary information, the deceased is a soldier of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura,” the brigade’s Facebook post read. He was a father of five, believed to be from the village of Mala Derevychka, Zhytomyr region, reports said.
“The command of the 30th separate mechanized brigade and the brothers of the hero send their sincere condolences to his relatives and friends. Revenge for our hero will be inevitable. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!’ it said.