Russian Wagner Prison Fighter Used Ride-Sharing to Flee War in Ukraine - The Daily Beast

Prisoners recruited by Russia’s Wagner Group to fight successful Ukraine seem to beryllium progressively realizing they’ve been duped, and that nary 1 ever counted connected bringing them backmost alive.

One inmate recruited by the radical backmost successful November has absconded from his squad successful Ukraine’s Luhansk portion and fled to Russia by autobus and ride-sharing app, wherever helium says helium is present hiding retired successful fearfulness of revenge.

“We thought we’d beryllium adjacent with the hired fighters, that we wouldn’t beryllium immoderate different, but successful world they conscionable marque battle teams retired of the inmates, and that’s the nutrient [in the nutrient grinder]. But there’s already nary going backmost there, if you garbage to bash thing they volition instantly disconnected you,” Nikolai Troshkin told the autarkic outlet MediaZona on Wednesday.

Troshkin said helium had a mates years near to service astatine a penal colony successful Siberia erstwhile Wagner Group laminitis Yevgeny Prigozhin visited successful the autumn and “colorfully” told prisoners astir their accidental for a pardon.

He bought into Prigozhin’s promises, helium said, and was soon transported retired on with astir 200 different inmates from his colony.

“We signed a insubstantial astir who to notify successful lawsuit of our death, and [stating] that I hold to instrumentality portion successful the subject cognition and fulfill the tasks of the Defense Ministry, contempt the information that I whitethorn die,” helium said.

After being sent to the occupied Luhansk portion for training, Troshkin said, helium learned of demonstrative executions astatine a children’s camp.

“Two guys who were lasting astatine a checkpoint stole thing and they were instantly offed. The teacher said that 1 got down connected his knees and asked for forgiveness, but died with dignity, saying, ‘Don’t repetition my mistakes,’” helium said, adding that “they sprout their ain there.”

The mode Troshkin tells it, Wagner leaders besides sent freed situation inmates connected termination missions knowing afloat good they’d ne'er travel backmost alive.

“It’s conscionable heavy shit, to enactment it rudely,” helium said. “They instrumentality thousands from [the penal colonies], archer them everything is bully and you’ll instrumentality home, and 90 percent die.”

Troshkin told the outlet helium had fled from the radical aft their grooming campy came nether occurrence by Ukrainian forces. After ditching his subject cogwheel and donning civilian clothes, helium said, helium took a autobus from Donetsk to Moscow and yet utilized a ride-sharing work to get each the mode backmost to Siberia.

He said helium initially planned to instrumentality to prison—“There’s nary constituent messing with Wagner”—but past learned helium wasn’t adjacent being sought by authorities.

“What’s the constituent successful returning to prison? I’m already freed, I’m pardoned. But due to the fact that of Wagner I’ll person to fell and alteration my phone,” helium said.

Troshkin’s relationship comes arsenic a erstwhile Wagner commandant has begun to attest to Norwegian warfare crimes investigators arsenic helium seeks governmental asylum successful that country.

Andrei Medvedev, 26, spent 4 months with the radical earlier deserting and making a tally for it crossed Russia’s borderline with Norway past month.

He has echoed Troshkin’s claims and said Wagner fighters are “treated similar cattle” sent to beryllium slaughtered.

“There was a clip erstwhile they brought successful 2 prisoners who refused to combat and changeable them successful beforehand of others for refusing to travel orders,” Medvedev told The Moscow Times. “There were galore specified incidents.”

While erstwhile fighters explicit disillusionment with the group, Wagner has besides reportedly been snubbed by Russia’s ain Defense Ministry erstwhile it comes to bringing the warfare dormant home.

“They’re not friends with the Defense Ministry, they don’t assistance them [Wagner] with coffins. They officially aren’t considered military, truthful they can’t usage the ministry’s infrastructure, they person to tally astir themselves with corpses connected the market,” a root successful Russia’s ceremonial manufacture told the autarkic outlet Verstka connected Wednesday.

In respective cases, different root said, families of dormant Wagner fighters were fixed bare coffins to bury.