Final resting place of Putin’s criminal army: grave after grave fills Russian cemetery where murderers and rapists freed to fight in Ukraine are buried after serving their purpose as cannon fodder

Images have emerged of the final resting place of Vladimir Putin’s criminal army, who died in Ukraine with promises to earn their freedom.

Grave after grave fills up at the Krasnodar cemetery, where criminals released from prison to join Moscow’s invasion forces are buried.

Tens of thousands of murderers, rapists, robbers and drug smugglers have been released and promised full freedom if they continue to fight in Ukraine for six months, regardless of the severity of their convictions.

But the carnage was massive, fueling allegations that Putin’s commanders were cynically using convicts, largely recruited from Wagner’s notoriously pro-Kremlin private army, as cannon fodder to hold down the Russian army’s regular troops.

The footage came as a former commander of Wagner, who fought in Ukraine, said he had fled to Norway in fear of his life and was now seeking asylum.

Pictured: Wagnerian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin lays flowers at the cemetery, which contains more than 120 graves of fallen Russian soldiers who died fighting for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine

Andrei Medvedev, who joined the group on July 6, 2022 on a four-month contract, said in a video posted by the Gulagu.net rights group that he crossed the border into Norway before passing through the Norwegian was arrested by the police.

Medvedev, an orphan who joined the Russian army and was imprisoned before joining Wagner, said he slipped out of the group after witnessing the killing of captured Wagner deserters.

“I’m afraid to die in pain,” Medvedev told Vladimir Osechkin, founder of the rights group Gulagu.net, who said it helped Medvedev leave Russia after he approached the group fearing for his life.

Wagner gave deserters good reason to fear. In November, Russian prisoner-turned-Wagner fighter Yevgeny Nuzhin — who switched sides in the war in Ukraine — was executed with a sledgehammer, a disturbing story circulating online.

Wagner’s warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin described Nuzhin as a traitor, with Vladimir Putin’s closest ally commenting on the clip that “a dog gets a dog’s death”.

Medvedev said Nuzhin was part of his unit.

In the photo: a cross with the name of Goncharenko Alexander Yurievich can be seen in the Wagner cemetery. Records show he died shortly before his 40th birthday

In the photo: rows and rows of graves can be seen in these photos of the Krasnodar cemetery

The Russian president praised his “prisoner army” this week and his spokesman said Russia “must know – and know – its heroes.”

The rapidly expanding new cemetery at Bakinskaya in Krasnodar Krai is one of many cemeteries across Russia where Wagner fighters are buried.

More than 120 graves can be seen in images of the cemetery, filled with victims from all over Russia, some with names, some without. Many more funerals are expected soon.

Five months ago, it was an open field without graves, said Krasnodar activist Vitaly Votanovsky.

It is now quickly filling up with the private military company Wagner [PMC] Fighters whose relatives did not claim the remains or who previously asked to be buried here near a church in Goryachiy Klyuch, believed to be a place of worship of the private military company.

Prigozhin – himself an ex-convict who is now Wagner’s billionaire boss – confirmed that this site was intended for the burial of his fighters.

“There are graves of those who for various reasons wrote in their statement that in case of death they wanted to be buried near the chapel of the Wagner PMC in Goryachiy Klyuch,” he said.

“Since there are no cemeteries near the chapel itself, a plot of land in the was allocated with the support of the Krasnodar Territory Administration [nearby village of Bakinskaya].

He placed a bouquet of flowers on the grave of a hunter – Denis Glazkov – who died on December 1, 2022.

The cemetery (pictured) is quickly filling up with fighters from Wagner’s private military company, whose relatives do not claim the remains or who previously asked to be buried here near a church in Goryachiy Klyuch which is believed to be the Place of Worship. private military company. .

Tens of thousands of murderers, rapists, robbers and drug smugglers have been promised complete freedom if they continue to fight in Ukraine for six months, regardless of the severity of their convictions. But the carnage was tremendous. In the photo: view of the cemetery

Jailed Russian serial killer-rapist nicknamed “The Werewolf” who killed 83 female volunteers will fight for Putin: Click here to read more

A large monument to the fighters was erected in Goryachiy Klyuch, with plaques and personal numbers of the fallen fighters.

It is estimated that the battle for Soledar, which has been raging for days, has cost the lives of around 10,000 Russian soldiers. These came mainly from Wagner.

It is widely claimed that the death toll of private military contractors – of which Wagner is the most important – is now over 38,000.

One of the graves in Bakinskaya is Alexander Dityatev, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2011 for murder, attempted murder and arson.

Tensions between Wagner and the defense apparatus erupted last Friday when the ministry called for the capture of the Ukrainian town of Soledar – which Ukraine has disputed – but made no mention of Wagner’s role in the fighting.

Prigozhin complained of attempts to downplay the role of his troops and downplay their achievements. The Department of Defense later released an update praising the “courageous and selfless actions” of the Wagner fighters.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters this week that engaging in “media manipulation” over an alleged rift between the armed forces and Wagner was unhelpful to pro-Russian media. He said that Russia recognizes both as heroes and that “both will be remembered forever”.

“As with all conflicts, these are primarily products of information manipulations, sometimes orchestrated by our information adversaries, but sometimes our friends act in ways that render such adversaries unnecessary,” he said.

Everyone is fighting for their country. So that’s how it should be seen.’

Prigozhin (pictured left with Vladimir Putin in 2010) – himself an ex-convict who is now Wagner’s billionaire boss – confirmed that this site was designated for the burial of his fighters

Meanwhile, monk Medvedev said he spoke from Oslo while seeking asylum. He said he crossed the border, climbed barbed wire fences, evaded a border patrol with dogs and fired shots at border guards as he ran through a forest and over thin and breaking ice to Norway.

Prigozhin, founder of Wagner, said Medvedev worked in Wagner’s Norwegian unit, but “mistreated prisoners”.

“Be careful, he is very dangerous,” Prigozhin said in a statement from his spokesman. In the statement, Prigozhin did not comment on the allegations of murders or abuse of prisoners.

In interviews with Gulagu, Medvedev said he became disaffected after his contract was repeatedly renewed by Wagner without his consent, and saw the killing and abuse of Russian prisoners brought to the front by Wagner.

Medvedev said the casualties were very high after Wagner started sending large numbers of prisoners to the front in the second half of 2022. Wagner’s internal security service imposed extreme penalties, Medvedef said.

He said the man executed with a sledgehammer in November was part of his unit.

Wagner’s testimony did not address Medvedev’s reports of punishment and battlefield casualties or that his contract was repeatedly renewed.

Prigozhin said his group is an effective fighting force because it has extensive battlefield experience, is well supplied, has a merit-based command system to which everyone can contribute, and has “the strictest discipline.”