The American television channel CNN reports that its journalists talked with two former Wagner PIK fighters who had previously served time in Russian colonies (one of them was sentenced to 20 years in prison for unintentional murder), where they were recruited by the Wagnerites to participate in the war .
The channel does not disclose the names of its interlocutors, but specifies that the Ukrainian military captured them at the end of last year.
We were 90 people. Sixty people died in the first assault, were killed by mortar fire. Several people were injured, – one of the channel’s interlocutors recalls his first assault in the Belogorivka area of the Lugansk region.
If one group fails, the second is sent immediately. If it fails, they send a third one, he adds.
Another interlocutor says that he participated in the assault near Lisichansk, which lasted five days:
The first steps through the forest were difficult because of the mines laid there. Of the ten children, seven died immediately.
We could not retreat without an order, because if we did not follow the order, they would kill us, – says one of them, – One person remained in position, he was very scared, this was his first assault. We were ordered to run ahead, but he took cover under a tree and refused. This was reported to the command and all. He was taken 50 meters from the base. He dug his own grave, and then he was shot.
According to them, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of PIK Wagner, personally visited the colonies where they were serving their sentences in August and September last year and offered to conclude a six-month contract in exchange for a pardon. But he did not say anything about the danger they must face, the channel’s interlocutors say.
According to them, they were so unaware of what was happening in Ukraine that they thought that the Ukrainian army had left the country.
We thought that we would fight the Poles and various mercenaries. Germans. We did not think that anyone from the Ukrainian army remained there. We thought they had left the country,” one of them says.
So it became clear that they [вагнерівці] they just lie to make us fight the Ukrainians. No one really thought that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would really fight for their country, for their loved ones. We found out about it only after we entered there,” the prisoner said.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.