Wagner mercenaries are ‘raping, kidnapping and torturing RUSSIAN soldiers’, Putin official claims

A Russian colonel has claimed that Wagner’s mercenaries are raping, kidnapping and torturing Vladimir Putin’s soldiers.

Lt. Col. Roman Venevitin, who was captured near the besieged Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, claimed he was tortured by Wagner mercenaries, despite being on the same side of the war with Russia.

“Wagner’s mercenaries stole two T-80 tanks, 4 guns, a KAMAZ truck and armored vehicles,” Venevitin said. ‘Wagner’s mercenaries took them as trophies of war [even though we are supposed to be on the same side].’

In an extraordinary claim, Venevitin said: ‘There were kidnappings of our military, when they were physically abused and humiliated. One of the non-commissioned officers of our battalion was kidnapped and tortured.

They kept him naked on the cold floor of a basement.

Venevitin stated: “Acid was sprayed in his eyes, causing him to lose his vision temporarily, they doused him with gasoline and [they] tried to burn it.

‘One of the soldiers was beaten and raped by Wagner’s mercenaries. He could not survive the humiliation and committed suicide.

In a video orchestrated by Putin’s top brass, he also accused Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin of discrediting the Russian military, a crime that could land him in jail.

Venevitin said the kidnapped Russian soldiers were returned to Putin’s army in exchange for ammunition, which Wagner says Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu did not provide them.

He said that Russian soldiers were used as “slaves to carry [dead bodies] and [wounded soldiers]’, or forced to sign contracts leaving the army by Wagner.

“This weakened the Russian flanks in the Bakhmut battle,” he said.

Apparently reading his statement on camera, he said of Prigozhin: “You are actively involved in discrediting the Russian armed forces.”

This accusation hints that the authorities are preparing to indict Prigozhin.

‘YO [am speaking] convey to the Russian public the truth about what happened, tell some facts about the so-called Wagner,’ he said. Honor compels me to do this.

Venevitin said he himself was tortured by Wagner’s mercenaries when he was kidnapped, after being accused of opening fire on them as they withdrew from Bakhmut.

“They tortured me inside a basement when they captured me,” he said. They tortured me worse than an angry Russian soldier would treat a captive Ukrainian.

‘They beat me, deprived me of sleep, three times a night they forced me out into the street where they staged a shooting. [squad].’

Earlier this week, a video of Venevitin captured by Wagner surfaced in the latest example of bitter infighting in Russian ranks.

Venevitin was seen ducking his head in a humiliating video posted by the Wagner group in which he confessed his ‘guilty’ and admitted to being drunk on the job after allegedly shooting at a Wagner vehicle.

The shooting damaged a Ural supply truck but did not wound any Wagner soldiers, according to the private army.

Venevitin also confessed to leading a group of 10 to 12 Russian Army soldiers who “disarmed” a Wagner rapid response group.

This followed claims by the mercenaries that the Russian regular army was targeting their ranks with mines, as a clip showed their sappers clearing explosive devices from a road.

Wagner’s mercenaries have been fighting for Putin in Ukraine and are credited with taking the city of Bakhmut from the Ukrainian armed forces after months of bloody warfare.

But his success apparently angered the regular commanders of the Russian army.

Wagner’s boss, Prigozhin, has launched several verbal tirades against Putin’s military leaders. He has accused them of ordering his troops to withdraw from their positions and leaving Wagner’s fighters unprotected on the front lines.

In Prigozhin’s latest tirade, he claimed that Russia could bomb its own territory in the Belgorod region, where anti-Putin insurgents are wreaking havoc.

Prigozhin warned that Russia could be forced to launch nuclear weapons in his Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, where pro-Ukrainian Russian volunteer units have carried out a series of cross-border raids and reportedly taken hostages.

Prigozhin, who has been highly critical of the Russian military, said Putin’s forces may be withdrawing from the region because the Kremlin wants to “drop a tactical nuclear bomb on its own soil.”

In recent weeks, pro-kyiv Russian paramilitary groups that have been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces have launched cross-border raids into Russian territory, attacking the Belgorod region.

Prigozhin’s latest tirade came after he slammed the Russian Defense Ministry’s claims that he had killed 1,500 Kiev soldiers in two days in the besieged city of Bakhmut as “absurd science fiction”.

In remarks published on his press service’s Telegram channel, the 61-year-old said that killing many Ukrainian troops would require daily gains of 150 km (93 miles).

“Therefore, I think that this is just wild and absurd science fiction,” Prigozhin said.

Adding the figures provided by the ministry would imply that “we have already destroyed the entire planet five times,” he added sarcastically.

Prigozhin last week criticized Russia’s military leaders after the Ukrainian armed forces managed to retake settlements on the outskirts of Bakhmut.

Prigozhin said it was a “shame” that Kiev troops were able to push back Russian lines and seize Berkhivka, a town in the northern suburbs of the embattled city.

The mercenary figurehead hit out at Russia’s defense minister Sergei Shoigu and army chief Valery Gerasimov, taunting them and urging them to go to the front and see the failures for themselves as armed factions plunge into civil war.

‘Now part of the settlement of [Berkhivka] already lost, the troops are slowly falling back. What a disgrace!

‘Shoigu, Gerasimov, I urge you to come forward, raise your pistols to your men so they can advance. Come on, you can!

And if you can’t, you will die as heroes.

Prigozhin has launched several verbal tirades at Putin’s military leaders. He has accused them of ordering his troops to withdraw from their positions and leaving Wagner’s fighters on the front lines unprotected.

Last week, Prigozhin unleashed an explosive tirade of abuse against Putin’s cronies after Moscow was attacked by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones.

In a furious 70-second tirade, Prigozhin yelled vulgar insults at Russia’s defense officials, describing them as “stinking scum” and “b*******.”

Wagner’s boss said he was “deeply outraged” by Putin’s troops doing “f*** everything” to prevent explosive drones from falling on the Russian capital this morning. Soon after, Putin claimed that Moscow’s air defense system was working “satisfactorily”.

Prigozhin, known for his foul-mouthed rants, who handed Bakhmut over to the Russian army last week, was translated as a shout: ‘Stinking garbage! What are you doing? Rise from the offices you have been placed in to protect this country.

Its stunning collapse came after several buildings in wealthy Moscow suburbs were damaged by suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drones, just hours after Putin unleashed attacks on Kiev.

He said: ‘You are the Ministry of Defence. You’ve done everything to move forward. Why the hell are you allowing these drones to fly to Moscow? Who cares that they fly to their homes in Rublyovka! Let your houses burn.

‘And what are ordinary people to do when explosive drones crash into their windows? So, as a citizen, I am deeply outraged that this scum sits quietly with his butt smeared with expensive creams.

‘And that’s why I think people have every right to ask these questions, these bitches.

‘But I have already warned about this many times, but no one wants to listen. Because I’m angry and upset at the bureaucrats who have a great life.’

Prigozhin’s outbursts highlight the rift within the Kremlin forces fighting Ukraine, with some analysts seeing civil war as a possibility in Russia if Putin loses the war.

Despite huge losses and a ban on recruiting prisoners from Russia’s penal colonies, Prigozhin is still believed to have up to 60,000 men at his disposal.

Wagner is one of several private armies in Russia. The leader of the Chechen warlords, Ramzan Kadyrov, controls a heavily armed group of his own, and the Russian energy giant Gazprom has established its own private military company.