“We will kill everyone on the battlefield. Don't take any more prisoners of war." This was ordered by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, the private militia that fights alongside the Russian troops who have occupied Ukraine .
The threatening words are contained in an audio broadcast on his Telegram channel, quoted by the Kyiv Independent.
Prigozhin's decision comes following the sharing on a Wagner-affiliated Telegram group of an alleged conversation between two Ukrainian soldiers discussing shooting a prisoner of war. The veracity of this audio has not been confirmed, but Wagner seems intent on responding vehemently.
In these hours, Prigozhin also took stock of Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine which has been at the center of very violent fighting in recent weeks.
According to the Wagner commander, the day Russian forces take control of the entire city of Bakhmut, "that day the Ukrainian counter-offensive will begin."
«As for the slaughter of Bakhmut - wrote Prigozhin on Telegram - our task is to slaughter the Ukrainian army, not to give them the opportunity to gather for a counter-offensive . In this sense we are achieving success and I give my men a five star rating. While for myself I would give a three minus, because it was necessary to slaughter them more so that not a single Ukrainian soldier was left alive».
Prigozhin also paid tribute to Kiev leader Volodymyr Zelensky: "No matter how much he is criticized", he is operating "in a highly professional manner".
(Unioneonline/lf)