Latest from Ukraine: Founder of the Wagner group orders not to take more prisoners, but to 'kill them'

The founder of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his troops fighting in the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine will no longer take Ukrainian prisoners but will kill them.

Posted by

Gabriela Gonçalves

April 24, 2023 10:00 PM

Prigozhin reacted in this way to the release of an audio, published on an account of Telegram who supports the group Wagner, of an alleged conversation between Ukrainian soldiers who ordered the execution of a fighter from the paramilitary group taken prisoner.

AFP was unable to confirm the authenticity of this recording.

“We don’t know the name of our wounded man who was shot down by miserable Ukrainians. But we will kill everyone on the battlefield.”, said Prigozhin in an audio message published on Sunday by its press service in Telegram.

“When you take a prisoner, you start to take care of him, you heal him, you don't hurt him, and you send him home after a while of negotiations.”, said Prigozhin.

The Wagner group, accused of numerous abuses in the different areas of activity in which it was deployed in several countries, is currently on the front line in the battle of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.

Since the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, Kiev and Moscow have exchanged accusations of mistreatment of prisoners, which constitutes war crimes.

In mid-April, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, denounced the acts of Russian “monsters” after a shocking video was posted on social media showing the beheading of an alleged Ukrainian prisoner of war.

Prigozhin rejected accusations made by an NGO and a defector from his group that the Ukrainian soldier's executioners were members of the Wagner group.

(With AFP)

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This post was last modified on April 24, 2023 10:06 pm

Gabriela Gonçalves