Russia executes another Wagner mercenary fighting in Ukraine

The Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, released another video of an alleged deserter being executed. The man in the video said his name was Dmitry Yakushchenko.

According to reporting by the BBC, Yakushchenko was reportedly serving time in a Russian prison for murder before being recruited by Wagner to fight in Ukraine.

Video: Wagner wakimnyonga msaliti kwa kutumia Nyundo.

Dmitry Yakushchenko aliyezaliwa mnamo 1978 mzaliwa wa SSR ya Kiukreni, alifanya wizi na mauaji huko Crimea, alihukumiwa miaka 19. Baada ya kupokea ofa ya kulipia hatia katika kitengo cha Wagner PMC, alikubali, na baada 👇 pic.twitter.com/PKyoTungM7

— Ciao Da Vinci💎 (@siadevinci) February 13, 2023

In the video, which was titled Trial for Treachery, Yakushchenko said he wanted to defect to Ukraine but was captured by Wagner forces before he could.

As Yakushchenko explains in the video how he woke up with his head taped to a wall, a figure behind Yakuschenko strikes him in the head with a sledgehammer several times. The video goes to black and the words “the court session is adjourned” appear on the screen.

The apparent recorded murder is the second such video to be released by Wagner mercenaries. Yevgeny Nuzhin was killed in similar fashion in November. It’s unclear when and where this second video was recorded.

The leader of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, recruited heavily from Russian prisons to bolster his mercenary forces in Ukraine. Wagner fighters are reportedly dying by the thousands as Russia tries to take Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

Wagner Forces began operating in Crimea in 2014. Since then, the Russian mercenaries have been linked to operations in the Middle East and Africa. Wagner profits from the extortion of natural resources in those areas, and it’s believed salt and mineral mines in the area around Bakhmut are one of the driving forces behind Russia’s obsession to seize the area.

Last week, Prigozhin said he would no longer recruit from Russian prisons. Prigozhin, also known as “Putin’s Chef,” is growing more popular with pro-war factions in Russia. His increased popularity often puts him at odds with the established military powers in Russia, which may explain why Putin is now putting limits on where Wagner recruits.