Alexey Savichev, a former Russian convict and member of Wagner, a private military company (PMC), has admitted to killing and torturing dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Savichev claims that he participated in summary executions during his six months of fighting in eastern Ukraine, reported the Guardian. He said that he was instructed not to take any prisoners and to shoot on the spot. Savichev claims to have killed 20 Ukrainian soldiers while fighting near Soledar and to have killed several dozen injured Ukrainian prisoners of war near Bakhmut by throwing grenades into the ditch where they were held.
In an hour and 17-minute-long video released by Gulagu.net, Savichev and another former Wagner fighter, Azamat Uldarov, appeared to discuss their crimes. Uldarov claimed to have killed civilians, including children, during the battle for Bakhmut. Their statements couldn't be independently verified. Savichev was released from prison on a presidential pardon on September 12 and provided photographs of two medals that he claims he received for the battle of Soledar.
Wagner has recruited tens of thousands of inmates, including convicted murderers, to fight in eastern Ukraine. Savichev's testimony provides a rare first-person account of a former Wagner soldier still living in Russia. The Guardian has seen Russian penal documents showing that Savichev was a convicted murderer. He claims that he was accepted into Wagner despite his HIV diagnosis. According to Savichev, just over 100 prisoners from his colony in Voronezh signed up to fight with Wagner. He was placed in small units of four that were used as "storming troops".
Savichev's account adds to the evidence of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Two videos have emerged this month showing Russian soldiers apparently beheading Ukrainian prisoners of war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has condemned the footage, describing it as "evil". Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Wagner, called the claims made by Savichev and Uldarov a "flagrant lie".
According to The Guardian, Savichev fears that he will face the same consequences as Yevgeny Nuzhin, another convicted murderer recruited by Wagner, who surrendered to Ukrainian forces and was later handed over to Russia and executed. Savichev said that he had witnessed multiple summary killings of other Wagner fighters who had been accused by their commanders of disobeying orders or breaking the "code of conduct", including regarding alcohol consumption.
Savichev has gone into hiding after receiving "multiple" threats. He said that he understands that he could die soon and that he doesn't want his death to be violent. Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, has called for those responsible for war crimes to be punished, saying that "confession is not enough".