The prisoners listened to the sarcastic speech of the leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine with a smile.

The leader of the private military company “Wagner” Yevhen Prigozhin once again publicly commented on the execution of his mercenary Yevgeny Nuzhin. “Wagnerivets”, who returned from captivity, was killed with a sledgehammer on the head because in an interview with Ukrainian journalists he condemned the war and declared his desire to fight against the Russians.

As reported by the Telegram channel “Oberezhno, Novyny”, Prigozhin mentioned the execution of Nuzhin during the recruitment of convicts in one of the Russian colonies, answering a question about the probability of mercenaries being captured.

“The last time the whole country was discussing in the mass media: there was such a Nuzhin – he surrendered, he himself said that he wanted to fight against the Russians. God knows who (executed him – ). He smashed him with a sledgehammer,” Prigozhin said with a touch of sarcasm.

The prisoners reacted to this with approving laughter. According to him, “captives can get rich”, “Wagner” even returns some of them. However, he advises blowing himself up with a grenade rather than being captured.

“It’s better not to talk about our people. Although they can castrate, abuse, so it’s better than a grenade and that’s it, goodbye,” Prigozhin said.

Execution of the “Wagnerian”

In November 2022, already during the war in Ukraine, “Wagner” fighters demonstratively killed with a sledgehammer Yevgeny Nuzhin – a former Russian prisoner who was recruited for the war, was taken into Ukrainian captivity and was given back in exchange.

In February 2023, the “Wagners” once again staged a demonstration punishment with the sledgehammer of one of their fighters. However, this time the incident caused a number of doubts and suspicions that it was only a production commissioned by Prigozhin personally.

The use of a sledgehammer as a tool of demonstrative punishment is practiced by the militants of the so-called “Wagner Group”. It became widely known for the first time in 2017, when Wagnerites in Syria demonstratively killed a Syrian army deserter with a sledgehammer.

After that, the sledgehammer and sending to execution became one of the informal brands of the “Wagnerians”. Moreover, the militants themselves flaunted that murder and regularly alluded to it.