FORMER WAGNER COMMANDER DESCRIBES HORRIFIC KILLINGS OF NON-SUBMISSIVE FIGHTERS IN UKRAINE

Wed 01 February 2023:

On February 24 of this year, the Russia-Ukraine war will have lasted a full year; nonetheless, there is no sign of a resolution, and many people are still unsure of what their futures contain.

In the midst of the bombings and sanctions, a saga that has been ongoing since Russia invaded Ukrainian territory a year ago, stories emerge from the battlefield that shake people to their core.

A former Wagner mercenary tells CNN about his experience from ground zero, including the brutality he witnessed in Ukraine. Andrei Medvedev, who is currently seeking asylum in Oslo, spoke at length about the Wagner group, a private military company that Russia is reportedly using to mobilize hundreds of mercenary soldiers.

He shed light on how Wagner fighters are frequently caught off guard when pushed into battle. Medvedev, 26, who joined the group as a volunteer, described Wagner’s treatment of the fighters as ruthless.

He even went saying, “They would round up those who did not want to fight and shoot them in front of newcomers.”

“They brought two prisoners who refused to go fight and they shot them in front of everyone and buried them right in the trenches that were dug by the trainees.” Medvedev signed his contract in July 2022 and moved to Ukraine after 10 days of signing. He termed the Wagner group founders, Dmitry Utkin and Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, as “the devil.”

“If (Prigozhin) was a Russian hero, he would have taken a gun and run with the soldiers,” Medvedev said. The bitterness is mutual as Wagner earlier said that Medvedev “should have been prosecuted for attempting to mistreat prisoners.”

“There were more dead bodies and more, and more, people coming in. In the end, I had a lot of people under my command,” Medvedev said adding, “I couldn’t count how many. They were in constant circulation. Dead bodies, more prisoners, more dead bodies, more prisoners.”

Medvedev spoke to CNN from Oslo after crossing its border in a daring defection that, he says saw him evade arrest “at least ten times” and dodge bullets from Russian forces. He crossed into Norway over an icy lake using white camouflage to blend in, he said.

He added that he wants to now share his story in order to help bring Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin to justice.

“Sooner or later the propaganda in Russia will stop working, the people will rise up and all our leaders …will be up for grabs and a new leader will emerge.”

Wagner is often described as Putin’s off-the-books troops. It has expanded its footprint globally since its creation in 2014, and has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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