Licence to Kill: Former Wagner members say they were ordered to ‘annihilate everyone’ in Ukraine

Kyiv: Two men claiming to be former Wagner commanders have confessed to killing children and civilians during their time in Ukraine.

During a video interview with Gulagu.net, a human rights organisation tracking war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, former Russian convicts Azamat Uldarov and Alexey Savichev detailed how they used to kill civilians in Ukraine.

Both Uldarov and Savichev were pardoned by a Russian presidential decree last year.

Headed by the Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner group is a private mercenary deployed in Ukraine. The group has recruited thousands of fighters from jails, offering incentives after a six-month service.

‘Wasn’t allowed to let anyone alive’

In his testimony, Uldarov recalled how he killed a child. He said, “(It was) a management decision. I wasn’t allowed to let anyone out alive, because my command was to kill anything in my way.”

While Savichev said that he threw around 30 grenades into a pit with dead and wounded Ukrainians and later burned the bodies.

Watch the video here:

Russian Wagner commanders admitting to executing 5 year old Ukrainian children. Leftists like BadEmpanada go well what can you do https://t.co/rninlwm6lf pic.twitter.com/kCFOwd2zjx

— Drew Pavlou (@DrewPavlou) April 17, 2023

Although the video appears to be true, Firstpost cannot verify it.

Explaining his motivation to come in front of the camera, Uldarov said, “I want Russia and other nations to know the truth. I don’t want war and bloodshed. You see I’m holding a cigarette in this hand. I followed orders with this hand and killed children.”

He added that Wagner mercenaries were given an order by Prigozhin to “annihilate everyone.”

Savichev said that they were commanded to “execute any men who were 15 years or older.”

He said, “It doesn’t matter whether there is a civilian there or not. The house needs to be swept. I didn’t give a f**k who was inside.”

Ukraine opens investigation after interview surfaces

According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office launched a probe soon after the interview surfaced on Gulagu.net.

The office has also summoned the Wagner Group chief as well as the head of one of its divisions for “engaging in an aggressive war and encroaching on Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”

Commenting on the video, Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office said, “A confession alone is not enough. There must be punishment. A brutal and just one. And it will definitely come.”

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