An alleged Russian mercenary has been executed in the most brutal way, with a hammer, for having deserted while fighting in the ranks of the Wagner Group, according to a video released on social networks on Monday. Three months ago, another combatant from this private military company suffered the same punishment.
The grisly death of the man can be seen in a video posted by the Gray Zone Telegram channel, to which Wagner is linked.
The shocking video shows the alleged mercenary, who identifies himself as 44-year-old Dimitri Yakuschenko. He says that he had gone over to the Ukrainian side and explains how he got to the basement where they are going to kill him.
According to his words, he was born in Crimea and is part of the thousands of convicted prisoners recruited by the Wagner Group in Russian prisons in exchange for fighting against Ukraine. Gray Zone explains that he was serving a 19-year prison sentence for robbery and murder when he was recruited.
The channel also says that after leaving the front and while in prison in Ukraine, he gave an interview in which he confessed his plan to escape. He also expressed his opinion and hope that the Crimean peninsula will become part of Ukraine again, and says that Russia does not need that territory.
Sitting in an indeterminate, dirty place, covered with a blanket and tied with electrical tape, the man assures that this "was not his war" and that "he planned to find a hole to escape."
He succeeded after four days at the front, when moving forwards and backwards he managed to pass "to the Ukrainian side."
Then another scene appears, in which Yakuschenko is in some kind of basement with his head taped to a block protruding from a brick wall. Next to him, a man in a camouflage uniform holds a huge sledgehammer.
In November 2022, the Gray Zone published another video with the execution of another alleged mercenary, named Yevgueni Nuzhin.
He explained that he was kidnapped on the streets of Kyiv. After receiving a blow to the head and losing consciousness, "I woke up and I was in this basement where they say they are going to execute me."
Yakushchenko's story is almost identical, with the only difference being that he was in Dnipro. "I was on the streets of the city of Dnipro when they hit me on the head and I lost consciousness, I woke up in this room and they told me that they are going to judge me," he explains in the video.
A few seconds later, the executioner brandishes the mallet and hits it against the head of his prisoner. The image is distorted, but it is clear what happens next. The executed man falls on his back and the executioner deals him another two blows.
Then a caption appears on the video that says: "The court session is declared closed."
