A Wagner Group fighter who deserted in Ukraine was kidnapped and performed by fellow fighters, a Telegram channel with links to the Russian mercenary clothing claimed Monday, sharing video of the alleged killing.
This is the 2nd openly shared video of a Wagner recruits obvious death by sledgehammer in current months after its leader threatened extrajudicial measures for founded guilty wrongdoers who leave the battlefield.
However a video launched later on Monday by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhins press service revealed Yakushchenko alive.
In the video, he reveals thankfulness to Wagner for sparing him in return for bringing important information from captivity that saved lots of Russian fighters lives.
Everyone deserves to repair their errors, he stated on camera.Dmitry Yakushchenko, 45, had actually run away the battleground days after signing up for Wagner, which hired him while he was serving a 19-year jail sentence for murder, according to the Grey Zone Telegram channel.
Today I was on the street of the city of Dnipro when I was struck on the head, passed out and awakened in this facility, where I was told I d be put on trial, he is heard saying in the video.The footage then goes blurry and Yakushchenko is revealed being most likely bludgeoned with a sledgehammer three times.The gruesome videos credibility was immediately contested by independent reporter David Frenkel, who claimed the slow-motion sledgehammer execution may have been staged.It was not possible to individually validate the video footage shared by Grey Zone.According to the independent Agentsvo news outlet, Ukraine returned Yakushchenko to Russia in December as part of a detainee exchange.Prigozhin was shot threatening Russian detainees with execution for deserting in commonly distributed recruitment videos last fall.In November, another video of Wagner fighter and convicted murderer Yevgeny Nuzhins sledgehammer killing for deserting in Ukraine was commonly distributed on social networks.
Prigozhin at first invited Nuzhins killing, stating he deserved a pets death, however later on distanced himself and denied Wagners participation in his murder.Footage of Yakushchenkos supposed execution was released after a CNN interview with 2 unidentified caught Wagner fighters who recounted commanders shooting other employees for disobeying orders on the battlefield.Prigozhin was estimated to have actually recruited as much as 50,000 prisoners into Wagner prior to quickly declaring last week that the enlistment campaign was over.