INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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.
