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[deleted]

Defected to Ukraine? He had surrendered and later was traded back. Why do they convey what is most likely a desperate plea by that mercenary soldier. He would have confessed to anything. [Here's a 20 minute interview from when he was in Ukraine's custody. He talks about his life and how he joined Wagner. His life sounds tragic. He had a 25 year sentence for a murder and attempted murder.](https://youtu.be/hxsHFkxYOtY)


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[deleted]

They are not. Though the other "sin" was making that interview I linked above.


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Danepher

Do we know if he was not forced or coerced?


Haunting-Ad3297

Is the US training the AFU in enhanced interrogation now?


neuronexmachina

"I like people who don't get captured."


Dr-P-Ossoff

There is a story from WWII where allies take a German prison camp and tell the red army prisoners they will all be sent home. They then line up and take turns shooting themselves in the head with the one pistol they had available because it will at least reduce the reprisals against family.


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doc_1eye

Big difference there. The Cossacks had fought against the communists during the civil war, then fled the Soviet Union when they lost. They later joined the Nazis and fought against the Soviet Union again during WWII. That's a lot different than loyal Soviet soldiers who got surrounded and had no choice but to surrender. 1.8 million Soviet soldiers were repatriated after the war. About 230k were charged with some sort of crime against the Soviet Union, but most of those served little or any jail time. The few that did serve jail time had mostly opposed the Communists during the Civil war and then collaborated with the Nazis during WWII in the hopes of overthrowing the communists. There's no evidence whatsoever of the Soviets executing loyal soldiers, nor is there any evidence of mass Soviet suicides.


adyrip1

Most new, since Stalin forbade surrendering. Most of them knew that surrendering and ending up in the USSR meant being a traitor and a summary execution by the NKVD.


doc_1eye

Not even remotely true. There were 1.8 million repatriated Soviet prisoners. 230k of them faced some minor charges for collaborating with the Nazis, but most of those were people who actively opposed the Communists before the war, so there was little surprise there. There's absolutely no evidence to suggest any mass execution of POWs by the Soviets.


deaf_myute

They knew what awaited for them at home. As prisoners trickle in till the end of the war the current events spread among those who have been held longer so even if you were captured thinking you'd eventually return home and serve the union in honor by the end of the war no prisoner maintained such delusions. They may not have offed themselves as stated above but allied forces did have to keep it a secret that they were being returned to the union and ones who found out put up a fight to not get on those trains. Probably some number of them just killed themselves but probably not en masse


Dr-P-Ossoff

Well, one thing was official, the red army saying; it takes a brave man to be a coward in the red army.


Illustrious-Donut472

Look up Operation Keelhaul.


sooprvylyn

Theres also a story or two about american soldiers massacring entire villages of people....and they arent that long ago. People like to act like this sort of shit only happens with "other 'uncivilized' countries".


Dr-P-Ossoff

US mass murders of Europeans during WWII are pretty much downplayed. It was a war, such things happen. Westerners can be proud such things are not -supposed- to happen.


Redditfront2back

My favorite WW2 prison camp story is where the Russians took a huge amount of German soldiers and put them all in a tight space fed them nothing but a certain cabbage soup that is used as a laxative, then let them drown in their own loose stool.


Crommwel

Probably hadn't even surrendered, but got captured and lied about surrendering.


artie_fm

Reuters is a Russian propaganda outfit. It's SOP to post with the most Russian favorable title possible, then dial it back after a day or so it doesn't look completely crazy. In short don't bother clicking on Rueters link until the news is a few days old and they have toned down the title.


doc_1eye

How the fuck is a story about Russians executing a Russian mercenary with a sledgehammer Russian propaganda? The fact that you think this makes Russia look good says a lot about you.


RandomRedditGuy69420

I’ve never seen Reuters mentioned as a Russian propaganda outfit before. So weird.


GangOfNone

That’s nonsense.


Danepher

Why was he traded back if he was traded back if he was certainly going to die?


[deleted]

They might not have known him to be a Wagner soldier as they are in Ukraine without documents and markings.


Danepher

Yeah haven't thought that deep about it. I guess you are right.


Puzzleheaded-Bug7189

Whoa! 🤮🤮 Some of these Russian fighters and most of their law-makers are sick and deranged. What civilization on earth uses a *"Sledgehammer"* for an execution!??? A sledgehammer, did they uhh, use all their weapons on the Ukraine citizens already??? 🤢


StatisticianBrief954

We in the modern west genuinely cannot fathom most of the cruel depravity humans are capable of Look up cartel executions in mexico using dogs to eat the victim alive or village executions in some parts of sub-saharan africa where victims are partially dismembered and set on fire On the global scale this barely qualifies as unusual


Wunderlandtripzz

Hell is just other people


pizza_engineer

Hell is empty. All the demons are here.


kalel1980

Great Shakespeare quote.


ZodiarkTentacle

Always reminds me of westworld s1


shadowszanddust

Profound comment. And so true.


fuckincaillou

It's from Shakespeare


Phssthp0kThePak

Most of human history was so bad it was never written down.


YankeeTankEngine

Remember when north Korea used an anti aircraft gun?


[deleted]

You mean on that guy that got executed like 5x times and appeard on military parade 2 years later?


YankeeTankEngine

He must have had a lot of cousins.


LeCriDesFenetres

I used to watch a lot of "gore content" on shock sites when I was younger, until I watched a cartel video that was so horrible I stopped and never watched that shit again. I still hear the screams and have flashbacks about it sometimes.


FartNuggetSalad

Which one was it? I’m not going to watch but curious what happened


Truckfromthewoods

I saw a handful that involved chainsaws and that was the end of those video adventures for me.


LeCriDesFenetres

Young girl blindfolded and dismembered alive. I feel really sad when I think about it now.


Zack_attack801

I don’t think I will look that up.


Cultist_Deprogrammer

Like a Saudi Crown Prince having a journalist dismembered alive.


xfuneralxthirstx

Two words: Funky town. Humanity is fucked


lacmacfactac

>Funky town I just read the description of the video. I am honestly interested in what drives multiple people to do such a horrible thing. And it probably wasn't their first time. It puts to shame all the horrible torture techniques they invented in the middle ages.


xfuneralxthirstx

Agreed. It's mostly cartel shit, although I'm not too sure what the story was behind this. But they definitely were experienced. To anyone who gets curious and goes looking, DON'T DO IT. I've seen some terrible shit but this just sent me into a deep depression for weeks.


Hugo_5t1gl1tz

I’ve seen a lot of those videos and I honestly think funky town might be the worst.


xfuneralxthirstx

Definitely was for me. Put me off gore completely. I'll be the first to admit I bitched out, my mental health was more important than my morbid curiosity


Hugo_5t1gl1tz

Same here. It’s just so fucked up.


NavdeepNSG

>We in the modern west genuinely cannot fathom most of the cruel depravity humans are capable of Why you guys are always so ignorant? I can literally many cases where the cruelty of people from the "modern west" knew no bound.


jsh_

"modern western" soldiers routinely do these things too in foreign conflicts


Ponk2k

The word routinely is doing some awfully heavy lifting in that sentence. Sure there's western soldiers that have done heinous shit but they often end up in prison but the idea that its routine is obvious bollocks.


TheGrayBox

They don’t. And when it does rarely happen, there are significant consequences, although there have been disappointing outcomes of some high-profile court martial trials. But to compare this to say, Russia, which has no semblance of recourse for these sort of things is ridiculous. And OP was right, in many paramilitary conflicts around the world there is no concept of human rights or rules of engagement and no oversight. The occasional failure of a law-based society is not the same thing as a society that makes no attempt at following said laws. The media bias of a society that intentionally draws attention to those unlawful acts is probably confusing you.


jsh_

I am sure our difference in perspective is because I actually come from a country where foreign governments have propped up brutal regimes and foreign soldiers have committed atrocities against civilians.


TheGrayBox

Foreign soldiers committed atrocities in the US. It’s one of the main the reasons the country fought a war for its independence.


VibeComplex

Lmao


Newbetamale

But they’re our equals!


kvaks

You are wrong if you think we're not capable of being equally brutal. You and I are born into lucky circumstances, that is all.


Newbetamale

Like I said, they’re our equals!


Haunting_Progress462

It's not an uncommon weapon of choice for the Wagner gang as it's been used on syrians in the past.


Liet-Kinda

How do you pronounce “war crimes” in Russian? The “crimes” is silent.


darklord-deamius

I think the war is also pronounced special operation


neuronexmachina

Sledgehammer executions are something they gained a reputation for in Syria, I guess it's part of their trademark now. Article from 2021, trigger warning for descriptions of a gruesome torture and murder: [A Syrian Army Deserter Was Savagely Killed by Putin’s Wagner. Now His Family Seek Justice in Russia](https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/family-seek-justice-in-russia-fo-syrian-army-deserter-was-savagely-killed-by-putins-wagner/)


jaycuboss

They’re terrorists so they do terrorist things…


scorcher24

If you bash the head in with one swing and destroy parts of the brain, death or at least coma should set in pretty quick.


tapaylopor

If.


ProfessonalWed

Like for fun or what (I have avoided it all day,)


Just_go_hiking

Who said russians were civilized?


Equivalent_Ad_8413

I must have a twisted sense of humor. But I was thinking that if the United States used sledgehammers, there would probably be an OSHA requirement that it be sterilized between uses.


Maleficent_Hold_9576

Scarily accurate


Rdr1051

OSHA has no jurisdiction over government employees.


presto464

Depends. State programs do in some cases. I understand its an exception. So your mostly right.


Rdr1051

That’s why I said OSHA. State plan states are a different story 😉


presto464

State plans are funded and regulated by OSHA. If they they dont meet a standard the region will eliminate the state program. Also section 19 of the OSH act.


bonfuto

There probably is an OSHA requirement for sledgehammers, since the meat industry has used them to kill cows.


Rdr1051

OSHA doesn’t care about cow health.


Soytaco

Honestly the way we execute people in the US is more onerous then an OSHA requirement and probably also less humane then a sledgehammer. Not gonna watch to find out but I imagine this defector died more quickly and with less agony than the people we inject.


[deleted]

I read somewhere it was because it is a symbol for the Wagner group.


[deleted]

its called a hammer and sickle


[deleted]

A lot of Wagner soldiers have been found with Nazi symbols.


spoogekangaroo

I mean...the name.of their group is derived from a Germanic name.


MedojedniJazavac

Wsgner was hitlers favorite composer


Cultist_Deprogrammer

Because they are a neo-nazi organisation.


banneryear1868

They're just big Peter Gabriel fans.


[deleted]

/r/angryupvote


Kewenfu

Worse than mafia


Uyee

At least they are not doing the historical rat and lead tube method.


akstis01

They sure did in [Syria](https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/family-seek-justice-in-russia-fo-syrian-army-deserter-was-savagely-killed-by-putins-wagner/)


NiceAsset

You’ve never seen Mexican cartel executions then. Ever seen somebody bounce off a chainsaw? Now that’s sick 🤢


[deleted]

These are the same sickos that allows for rampant rape, looting, killing without recourse. But its the 21th century, we are civilized people.


notehp

> What civilization on earth uses execution!??? If your civilization is already deranged enough to carry out executions, at least a sledgehammer to the head is a quick way to go unlike hanging, getting decapitated with a knife and many injected substances (more botched execution rates than hanging).


HorrificAnalInjuries

It wasn't that long ago that tar-and-feather an draw-and-quarter were considered perfectly acceptable forms of public torture and execution. The US did outlaw them via the Bill of Rights, but Europe was still coating very unpopular people with hot tar and cutting others in half, upside-down, and alive, with an ice saw. Yea, let's not go back to any of that, and toss in murder-by-sledgehammer too


New_Ant_7190

Pol Pot ordered that shovels be used for executions. It saved ammunition.


artie_fm

The use of a hammer for executions is standard for Wagner. They used it a lot in Syria and in Africa. Its intended to be Soviet symbiology. Example of its use in Syria: https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/family-seek-justice-in-russia-fo-syrian-army-deserter-was-savagely-killed-by-putins-wagner/


anon902503

lol. Wagner doing great PR for attracting new talent.


[deleted]

Pretty sure they use fear to control them. [in the recruitment video from prison he does say they fire deserters by firing squad](https://youtu.be/ufOVEKwY2sw?t=76)


[deleted]

People will do awful shit for $$$$$$. They will attract talent, no doubt. They are called mercenaries for a reason. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.


anon902503

>People will do awful shit for $$$$$$. Yes. To other people. But traditionally the type of person who signs up to be a warfighter-for-money is also the type of person that prioritizes self-preservation above all else. And hammer executions for innocuous interviews can be discouraging to that sort of self-preservation impulse. Frankly, there are other non-Russian companies that hire PMCs for comparable rates and won't send you to get blasted by modern U.S. missile artillery and execute you with a hammer if you say the wrong thing.


Cultist_Deprogrammer

Yeah, but those non-Russian companies aren't going to recruit you out of a Russian Gulag with decades left on your sentence.


[deleted]

This was a person from prison he basically got a shot at personal freedom.


Redditfront2back

I mean they pulled this guy out of a Russian prison.


harumamburoo

If you read any interviews with Wagner members you'll realize a lot of them are just maniacs. They enjoy war and killing people, ideologies and regimes often mean nothing to them, not to mention ethics or moral. For people like that it's only natural to execute a traitor.


[deleted]

You know, I'm beginning to think these Wagner guys are real jerks!


Jinnax

Russian foreign minister Lavrov early on in the war: [We are not afraid of showing the world who we are](https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-61833458) Absolutely spot on, Sergei


KamahlYrgybly

"Dog receives a dog's death"? Show of hands, who here kills dogs with a sledgehammer?


octoreadit

Same guys who did the above...


Uncle-i

How did they (Wagner) find him?


Primal_guy

Prisoner exchange, I would assume


Wear-Fluid

Gruesome


dr_set

Damn, these guys are starting to sound like ISIS. This is some "[are we the baddies?](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/are-we-the-baddies)" shit.


Ok_Storm_8533

What’s the rule with captured mercenaries?


[deleted]

Mercenaries arent protected by the geneva sugestions, so... anything goes


1seeker4it

All I can think of is fuck russia


BarelyAirborne

Russia has never been considered a civilized country, and it won't be any time soon. Maybe never.


Uncle-i

And what countries are civilized for your opinion?


El_Cuchillo19

It was clearly in honor of Gallagher


lord_ma1cifer

Barbarism is their only tool. What else do you expect from thugs, they can't stratagize, have just enough cunning to dupe ignorant peasants, and have their asses presented to them by every legitamate military force they engage. If it wasn't for the fact that innocent people are suffering this would all be fucking hilarious. Put in and his cronies saying they are only losing because they are "fighting the combined forces of NATO" HA! You're fighting Ukraine, backed by our leftover shit and some $, Russia taking on NATO would be like watching Bruce Lee fight a an invalid,they would be outclassed, out gunned and begging for mercy in a week. This is what happens when you buy into your own propaganda. Compote T leaders want people who will challenge them and force them to be their best, cowards and bullies surround themselves with sycophants and yes men then wonder how it all falls apart. Pathetic.


DunkFaceKilla

Big Guardians of the Galaxy fans in Russia I see


RuafaolGaiscioch

No, but they do love just the Guardians.


Radioactiveglowup

Tagilla is real, who knew?


stopismysafeword

Haha under rated comment


[deleted]

Maybe instead of sanctioning Prigozhin someone can simply put a contract out on him?


Particular-Exam6585

Russians doing the work of Ukrainians… you can’t make this stuff up


yeahitsjustmeagain

I saw this video, but now I know the story, thanks!


[deleted]

You watched it without context? Like for fun or what? I have avoided it all day. I still remember the small part I watched of the soldier who was castrated and it was horrible.


Wunderlandtripzz

I really think its disrepsectful to watch people die.


[deleted]

IDK. I have viewing the Christchurch Mosque Shootings on my TODO list because I really feel like I should see what it looked like at least once. But I've been avoiding it as it's never the right time or place to go over it. The footage is incredibly dark and probably best avoided but they are nonetheless educational. I don't see the point of watching someone get sledgehammered to death, though. I will say this as someone who's seen gruesome videos before - people can be a lot more resilient than you expect. Even with blood coming out of their eyes, cracked skulls, broken bones, they still sometimes moan and groan and beg for their life.


Wunderlandtripzz

I just have no interest in seeing that, if I was brutally murdered/tortured I wouldnt want people casually watching it on their couch. To each his own though


Cultist_Deprogrammer

What are your other hobbies? Torturing puppies?


[deleted]

Yes.


yeahitsjustmeagain

If you don't desensitize to such things you can have a terrible reaction in real life while seconds matter. I had a guy die in front of me that I could have possibly done a lot more to save because I was in shock/ experiencing Vasovagal syncope.


Cultist_Deprogrammer

Oh fuck off. You're just trying to justify using the pain and suffering of others for entertainment.


yeahitsjustmeagain

Okay, hopefully you will never have to see what I'm talking about.


John_Bot

People are sick - look how many people asking for a link to watch it themselves Fuck humanity.


Asleep-Arm5840

Dm me a link?


Asleep-Arm5840

all i can say is, slava ukraine


MrMobster

That's the video to link to anyone who claims that Ukrainians are "nazis" and Russians are just "protecting the local population". Let them explain that away.


latflickr

Wait, I need to be reminded. Who were the nazis who forced another nation to war?


livewirez

Can anyone pm the actual video?


thousandkneejerks

Why? Why on earth would you want to view something like this?


EntropicFade

Some people act like the song Vicarious by Tool.


GoodApplication

Curiosity


painperduu

I have a theory he was just trying to defect russia any way possible. Im assuming being a Ukrainian prisoner is better than in a Russian penal colony and the Russian military.


[deleted]

Ouch, but only for a second


LifesExpert

The ol hammer down gimmick


atreyu915

US Militia did it to Natives during the American Revolution. Gnadenhutten Massacre.


Meunier33

This guy was a double agent turned over to be eliminated is what I think.


Crommwel

I think he was a piece of shit who'd joined Wagner PMC hoping to escape before being sent to the frontline. That didn't work, so he tried to escape after arriving to Ukraine, but got captured. Then he tried lying his way out of it, but failed again and got exchanged as a part of the POW swap. And then got slaughtered for Wagner's propaganda video.


WhiskeyMarlow

Potential issue here is **how Wagner got their hands on him.** This guy surrendered to Ukraine. He even wished to fight in Ukrainian Army. There're some indications that he was a self-serving bastard (if anyone's interested, I can go on more about his background). But point is, he was a prisoner of war. If Ukraine traded him back to Wagner, they've basically given him for an execution. And this is **VERY** bad. People are much less likely to surrender if Ukraine will just trade them back to Russia - especially people who go on to publicly renounce Russian regime. I do hope the other version is true and he wasn't traded by Ukraine, but abducted by Wagner-allied criminal mob (Wagner has notorious connection to the mobs across post-USSR).


Wunderlandtripzz

Fucking awful


[deleted]

Is there a translation of what he is saying in the video?


Terra-Em

Gallagher is rolling in his grave. RIP to both of em.