'We thought we'd fight Poles and Germans': Wagner prisoners tell CNN about their participation in the war
The American television channel CNN spoke with two former mercenaries of PMC «Wagner», who previously served time in Russian colonies and then fought in Ukraine. They thought they were going «to fight Polish mercenaries».
According to CNN, these two fighters were allegedly taken prisoner by Ukrainian troops at the end of last year.
The publication does not reveal their identities, but specifies that one of them was serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter.
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«There were 90 of us. Sixty people died in the first assault, were killed by mortar fire. Several people were injured», — the occupier recalls his first assault in the area of ​​Belogorovka, Luhansk region.
According to him, if one group fails, then «the second one is immediately sent, and then the third».
The second one says that he participated in the assault near Lisichansk, which lasted five days, allegedly «The first steps in the forest were difficult because of the mines laid there, seven out of ten guys died immediately».
«We couldn't retreat without an order, because if we didn't follow the order, we would be killed. One man remained in position, he was very frightened, this was his first assault. We were ordered to run ahead, but he hid under a tree and refused. This was reported to the command, and that's it. He was taken 50 meters from the base. He dug his own grave and then was shot», — said the former mercenary.
According to them, the founder of PMC «Wagner» Yevgeny Prigozhin personally visited the colonies where they were serving their sentences in August and September last year and offered to conclude a six-month contract in exchange for a pardon. But he did not say anything about the danger in the war.
According to them, they were so unaware of what was happening in Ukraine that they thought that the Ukrainian army had left the country: «We thought that we will fight with the Poles and various mercenaries, the Germans, we did not think that someone from the Ukrainian army remained there – we thought that they had left the country».
The occupier also said that &# 171;no one thought that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would really fight for their country, for their loved ones», and supposedly found out about it only on the territory of Ukraine.
