two ex-commanders of PMC “Wagner” told about the murders of children

The Gulagu.net project published a video in which two people who call themselves former prisoners who fought in Ukraine as part of the PMC “Wagner” and were later pardoned by the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin claim that they were witnesses and accomplices of numerous war crimes.

Gulagu.net calls Azamat Uldarov and Alexey Savychev ex-commanders of the “Wagner” PMC subdivision. It is confirmed that decrees on their pardon were signed in August and September last year.

Both of them talk in the video about the mass murders of prisoners, including the wounded, as well as fighters of the PMC “Wagner” itself, who refused to fight, about the murders of civilians, including children and teenagers, during the storming of Bakhmut. In particular, Savichev claims that, on the orders of superior commanders, he threw grenades into a pit filled with dead and wounded Ukrainians and Russians, and also claims that he witnessed the murder of more than 20 children. Uldarov says that he personally killed a five-year-old girl in Soledar. Both claim that PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin personally ordered the executions.

There are no confirmed words of the people who appear in the video published by Gulagu.net from other sources. Uldarov is clearly in a state of intoxication in the video.

Soldiers of the Russian army and other armed forces, including PMC “Wagner”, in Ukraine are accused of killing and torturing civilians and other acts that have the characteristics of war crimes or crimes against humanity. The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubynets said on Monday that his office had received “dozens of videos” of killings of Ukrainian soldiers by Russian soldiers in recent months.

Also, a video with the alleged sledgehammer killing of a former fighter of PMC “Wagner” Evgeny Nuzhin caused a great stir. At the same time, earlier Ukrainian sources did not report on the cases described by Uldarov and Savychev.

The founder of Gulagu.net, Vladimir Osechkin, claims that both of them are located on the territory of Russia and are not under anyone’s influence.

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak commented on the publication. It follows from his comment that he considers the statements in the video to be genuine. In his opinion, the video “sheds light on the crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine.”

Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a comment published by his press service, stated that the allegations about the shootings of children and civilians are not true. At the same time, he neither confirmed nor denied that Uldarov and Savichev were mercenaries of PMC “Wagner”.