Ex commanders of Wagner confess to killing Ukrainians in Bakhmut and Soledar
As reported in Meduza, The Russian human rights defenders Gulagu.net published appalling evidence of war crimes committed by the Wagner Group on the orders of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Ex-prisoners Azamat Uldarov and Alexey Savichev were recruited by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, and pardoned by Putin in 2022.
Vladimir Osechkin recorded video calls, which lasted over an hour, with two former Russian commanders who fought in Ukraine and confess to executing people in Bakhmut and Soledar, including children. They were prisoners
The first of them, Alexey Savichev, said that his group had shot 24 people, including teenagers, in Bakhmut, simply because of their tattoos.
He confessed to numerous killings, like ordering the execution of 70 prisoner recruits for refusing to obey orders in the battlefield. He also said he carried out orders this January in Bakhmut to throw more than two dozen grenades into a pit filled with dead and wounded Ukrainians and Russians, before dousing the remains of roughly 60 people with gasoline and burning their bodies. Additionally, Savichev says he killed 10 teenagers and more than 20 unarmed Ukrainians on the orders of his superiors, including instructions to “cleanse” a residential building by killing everyone inside.
The second "Wagnerite", Azamat S Uldarov, talked about the group’s atrocities in Soledar and Bakhmut. He confessed to murdering children in Soledar and Bakhmut, saying he and his men were ordered to “eliminate everyone — men, women, elderly people, and children.” Uldarov even described firing a second bullet (an “insurance shot”) at a “five- or six-year-old girl” to ensure her death.
"I carried out the command. I and my group killed everyone there, we left everyone there. It was a nine-story building and the entire basement, the first and second floors were filled with people. I then gave command: "kill everyone""
According to Uldarov, Prigozhin personally gave the order to kill, which the ex-mercenary called "cleaning up," as well as ordered not to take anyone prisoner or negotiate, "but only to kill."
The head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, says Ukraine will investigate all Russian war crimes and identify everyone who has committed them.
Yermak wrote about this on Telegram, commenting on a video published in the media in which Wagner Group mercenaries confess to taking part in mass murders of civilians, including children.
"Russian terrorists confessed to killing Ukrainian children in Bakhmut and Soledar. Now we are talking about war criminals from the Wagner PMC, but this sheds light on the crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine. They abduct our children and kill them. How many more such crimes arhave been committed? A nation of non-humans and murderers, biological garbage of this world," emphasized Yermak.
"We will find out about all such crimes and we will find everyone who committed them," Yermak assured.
Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets told Ukrainska Pravda publication that over the past nine months, his office had received "several dozens" of videos allegedly showing executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war carried out by Russian soldiers as well as other violent attrocities.
"Some (of the Russian soldiers) were verified. And I know that one person suffered punishment. I know they died during a clash with Ukrainian troops," he added.
According to the ombudsman, Russia publicly distributes such videos to "maintain the degree of anti-Ukrainian hysteria" within Russian society, persuade its troops not to surrender, and intimidate Ukrainian soldiers preparing for a counteroffensive.
The Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations registered the facts under Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – violation of the laws and customs of war. The circumstances mentioned in the interview will be checked as part of the investigation of criminal proceedings, and they will be given an appropriate legal assessment."
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Monday the appointment of a prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine and of a legal advisor to the US Embassy in Kyiv to provide aid to the Ukrainian government.
"As we discussed today, to further strengthen this partnership, the Justice Department will detail an experienced prosecutor to the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine," said the US Prosecutor General.
A joint investigation team for collecting evidence and investigation of main international crimes, committed in Ukraine, was created with the support of Eurojust. Among the members of the team are the International Criminal Court, Ukraine, as well as Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Romania and Estonia.
Ukrainian prosecutor’s report
Almost 500 children have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, according to a report by the Ukrainian prosecutor general.
As of Monday, a total of 1,418 children had been affected. They had counted 470 children killed and 948 who had been injured – although the department believes that the number of injured children is higher.
Most casualties were recorded in the Donetsk region (451), Kharkiv region (275), Kyiv region (127), Kherson region (94), Zaporizhzhia region (89), as reported by Ukrinform.
Apr 17: Ex commanders of Wagner unit confessed to killing in Bakhmut and Soledar