Russian mercenary video shows new brutal killing of 'traitor'

Russia's Wagner mercenary radical has released a video appearing to amusement the brutal sidesplitting of 1 of its soldiers who defected to the Ukrainians.

The video, connected the Wagner-linked Telegram transmission Grey Zone, shows the worker giving his sanction and details of his recruitment, earlier a antheral hits him with a sledgehammer successful a cellar.

Wagner released a akin sledgehammer "execution" video three months ago.

Wagner has thousands of troops progressive successful dense warring successful Ukraine.

The group, which calls itself a backstage subject company, began operations successful 2014 successful Crimea.

It has since operated successful Syria, Ukraine, and crossed Africa, and has been accused of brutality and warfare crimes.

Warning: you whitethorn find the statement beneath upsetting

In an accompanying substance post, Grey Zone named the alleged "traitor" arsenic Crimea-born Dmitry Yakushchenko, 44, who defected to Ukraine 4 days aft becoming a Wagner fighter.

The archetypal portion of the video showed him successful Ukrainian captivity - the BBC has established that the clip came from Ukrainian transmission Espreso.TV.

In it, Yakushchenko suggested that Crimea mightiness instrumentality to Ukraine's power successful a mates of years.

According to the text, helium had been jailed earlier for execution but had seized the accidental to combat for Wagner successful bid to permission jail. Wagner is known to person recruited men from Russian prisons.

The video past cuts to a changeable of Yakushchenko sitting successful a cellar with his caput taped to operation debris acceptable against a chromatic wall.

Another antheral is lasting down him holding a sledgehammer. A caption calls the country "trial for treachery".

Seconds earlier the killing, Yakushchenko - seemingly describing however helium was captured aft defecting - describes however helium was deed connected the caput by assailants successful the Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro.

He mislaid consciousness and aboriginal woke up successful the cellar "where I was told I would beryllium tried".

At the constituent wherever the archetypal hammer stroke is struck the video goes blurred and Yakushchenko falls backwards. Further blows are struck, past a caption reads "the tribunal league is adjourned".

The Grey Zone station makes a sarcastic remark astir Yakushchenko's death, referring backmost to Wagner's November "execution" of Yevgeny Nuzhin, who was besides a erstwhile situation inmate.

"Like his workfellow Yevgeny Nuzhin earlier, helium caught the aforesaid illness that makes you suffer consciousness successful Ukrainian cities, earlier successful Kyiv, present successful Dnipro, and past aftermath up successful a basement astatine your past tribunal session," the station said.

There was nary notation successful the substance oregon video of wherever and erstwhile the video was shot.

The shadowy mercenary radical has adopted a much nationalist illustration since Russia launched its full-scale penetration of Ukraine a twelvemonth agone - adjacent opening a large office successful St Petersburg.

Wagner laminitis Yevgeny Prigozhin has longstanding links to the Kremlin: helium has been nicknamed "Putin's chef" for providing catering services for the Russian elite and equipped forces.