Escaped Wagner Group fighter confident troops beheading Ukrainian POW in recently-surfaced video are Wagner Group mercenaries

Warning: This story contains references to extreme violence that some readers may find disturbing.

The recently emerged video footage with the beheading of a captive Ukrainian serviceman, apparently by Russian troops, is likely the work of Wagner Group.

The human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the Gulagu.net advocacy project, told the host of Khodorkovsky Live YouTube channel that he has discussed the video with Andrey Medvedev, an escaped Wagner Group fighter now seeking asylum in Norway.

According to the former mercenary, the people performing the beheading on video are unmistakably Wagner Group combatants. Osechkin says Medvedev “definitely recognizes his colleagues, Wagner Group troops, based on their nicknames, the way they talk, and their manner when talking over the radio.”

Osechkin also reminded the audience of the footage that emerged in 2017, showing the violent execution of a Syrian POW by Wagner Group mercenaries and sharing a number of features with the new video.

The activist promised a 3,000-euro reward for information leading to conclusive identification of the combatants in the video.