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On the ground, Ukrainian soldiers clash with Wagner’s militiamen. A team from France Télévisions was exceptionally able to meet one of these men, recruited in a Russian prison and captured in Bakhmout.
It is one of his guards who takes the prisoner. His dungeon, a small windowless room, is located in an apartment building. The detainee is just 27 years old, and is Russian. A Ukrainian soldier is present during the interview. He was captured in Bakhmout (Ukraine), three days after his arrival on the front line. “There were 93 men in my company. On the battlefield, I saw it: half of them died“, he confides.
A remission
He says he was captured in prison. He was serving a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking and complicity in murder, when he saw militia leader Wagner arrive. “He arrived by helicopter. (…) He was the only one to carry a gun, while the guards, the employees of the prison are only entitled to sticks”, he says. To fight in Ukraine, Wagner offers 100,000 rubles, or 1,200 euros per month. “I was tired of being in jail. I signed for six months. I fight six months, and I have a reduced sentence. And they said to me: ‘If Bakhmout falls during your contract, then you go home right away’he adds.
After 21 days of training, he joined the front. He says he doesn’t have enough food, and no command. “They didn’t care if we came back or not, if we stayed alive or not”, said the soldier. He could now be exchanged for Ukrainian soldiers. He claims not to think “stay alive” if he were to return to Russia.
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