the testimony of a captured Wagner militiaman

It is one of his guards who leads to the prisoner. His dungeon, a small windowless room, is located in an apartment building. The detainee is just 27 years old and is Russian. A Ukrainian soldier is present during the interview. He was captured in Bakhmout (Ukraine), three days after his arrival on the front line. “There were 93 men in my company. On the battlefield, I saw it: half of them died”he confides.

A remission

He says he was captured in prison. He was serving a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking and complicity in murder, when he saw militia leader Wagner arrive. “He arrived by helicopter. (…) He was the only one to carry a pistol, while the guards, the employees of the prison are only entitled to sticks”, he says. To fight in Ukraine, Wagner offers 100,000 rubles, or 1,200 euros per month. “I was tired of being in prison. I signed for six months. I fight six months, and I have a reduced sentence. And they said to me: ‘If Bakhmout falls during your contract , then you go home right away”he adds.

After 21 days of training, he joined the front. He says he doesn’t have enough food, and no command. “They didn’t care whether we came back or not, whether we stayed alive or not,” the soldier said. He could now be exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers. He claims not to think of “staying alive” if he were to return to Russia.