Wagner chief Prigozhin defends killing footage

• Yevgeny Prigozhin, a supporter of Putin, referred to the unconfirmed video as “a dog’s death for a dog”.
• The mercenary who had been convicted of murder defected to Ukraine in September.
• He claims he was struck over the head while walking down the street in Kyiv.

A violent video purportedly depicting the execution of a mercenary who defected to Ukraine has been defended by the leader of the private Russian military firm Wagner.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a supporter of Putin, referred to the unconfirmed video showing Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, being struck by a sledgehammer as “a dog’s death for a dog.”

In September, the murderer who had been convicted made his switch public.

He was a prisoner of war being detained by Ukraine, but it’s unclear how he wound up in the latest footage.

He revealed details of his surrender in an interview with a Ukrainian journalist in September, following his abduction by Ukraine.

He claimed that Mr. Prigozhin personally recruited him, but he went into the fight in Ukraine intending to surrender.

The details in this article may be upsetting.

On the Wagner-affiliated Telegram group Grey Zone over the weekend, video of the summary execution was posted.

It begins with Nuzhin describing how he went to the front as a member of Wagner, after being recruited in August. He said he intended to change sides and “fight against the Russians”.

He claims that on November 11, after being taken prisoner by the Ukrainians, he was struck over the head while walking down the street in Kyiv. It’s unclear why or how he was able to move freely in the city.

He was attacked, knocked out, and awoke in the basement where the movie was being made.

After that, a mysterious figure emerges and swings a sledgehammer at Nuzhin. He stumbles to the ground and is then killed by more beatings.

Meanwhile the Kremlin has tried to distance itself from the video, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying “it was not our business”.

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Former restaurateur Mr. Prigozhin is a personal friend and confidant of Vladimir Putin.

He founded the Wagner organization, a firm that recruits mercenaries, in 2014, but didn’t make the announcement to the public until September.

When the confrontation between Ukrainian forces and Russian proxies in the Donbas began in 2014, the group first appeared in eastern Ukraine. Since then, it has participated in fighting in Syria and numerous African nations.

Several of its members have been charged with war crimes by Ukraine ever since the invasion in February.

At a Russian prison in September, Mr. Prigozhin was spotted enlisting prisoners for Wagner.

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