FILE PHOTO: A truck displaying the symbols "Z" in support of the Russian armed forces involved in a military conflict in Ukraine is parked outside PMC Wagner Centre, which is a project implemented by the businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Russak
(Reuters) -A video appearing to show the execution using a sledgehammer of a Russian mercenary who fled the Wagner group while fighting in Ukraine was shared on social media on Monday, although Wagner's founder declined to say whether the apparent victim had been killed or not.
The Wagner mercenary group, which operates outside the main Russian military command in Ukraine and promotes itself as Russia's most ruthless and effective fighting force, has adopted the sledgehammer as its symbol after reportedly using it to execute a defector from its ranks last year.
In the footage, captioned "Video from the court for treason", a man who identifies himself as Dmitry Yakushchenko is shown with his head taped to a block on a brick wall, while a man in camouflage stands behind him holding a sledgehammer.
Facing the camera in a seated position, the restrained man recites his name and gives 1978 as his year of birth and says he has been snatched from the street in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
"I was planning on finding some loophole, just, as they say, to run away," he says, adding that it was "not his war".
In the video - distributed by Grey Zone, a Telegram channel linked to Wagner - the person behind him raises the sledgehammer and appears to swing it into his head.
At this point, the video blurs. There is a loud noise, and the victim falls backwards onto the floor. The man swings the sledgehammer again.
A caption then says, "The court session is declared closed".
In response to a request for confirmation of the video's content from the Russian outlet Ostorozhno Media, which is run by liberal media personality Kseniya Sobchak, Wagner's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin replied on his Telegram channel in typically enigmatic style.
"Ksenia, don't take everything so sadly. The children are having fun. You thought that the film about Yakushchenko was a one-episode drama ... If you wish, we can share the next series with you."
To add to what appeared to be a deliberate trail of confusion, Prigozhin's channel then posted a video of "Yakushchenko" in front of a blank concrete wall saying he had been taken captive by Ukrainian forces, to his shame, but had brought back valuable information that saved colleagues' lives.
"For that reason I've been forgiven, for which I'm extremely grateful" he says, above a caption reading "Dmitry Yakushchenko is a good man".
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the authenticity of either video, the order in which they were taken, or whether "Yakushchenko", who said he was born in Crimea and left prison before joining the Wagner group, was speaking freely or under duress.
Grey Zone had compared "Yakushchenko" to Yevgeny Nuzhin, a man identified as a defector from Wagner who was shown on video in November being executed with a sledgehammer.
In a rare interview with a Russian military blogger last week, Prigozhin said a sledgehammer was a "fine instrument" and a symbol, but said he knew nothing about it being used to punish traitors.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey and Mike Harrison)
