Wagner Execution Sledgehammer Video – Brutality At Its Peak 

Wagner’s execution sledgehammer video depicts extreme barbarity and cold-heartedness. The Wagner Group posted the video on their semi-official Telegram channel without remorse. 

The new tortuous clip was released three months after Wagner publicized the violent end of Yevgeny Nuzhin, a former prisoner recruited into the group who then turned against Russia.

The new clip is frighteningly similar to Nuzhin’s execution video. The condemned man in the video is Dmitry Yakushchenko, a convict from Russian-occupied Crimea who joined Wagner while serving a 19-year prison sentence for robbery and murder.

The Telegram post reads that Dmitry was given a chance to achieve liberation and atonement for his sins by becoming a part of the Wagner Group. 

It adds that Yakushchenko rolled over to the enemy’s side after being sent to fight in Ukraine. While in the captivity of Kyiv’s soldiers, he gave an interview to local media, which was widely shared in November.

The new video begins with a clip from that interview, in which Yakushchenko discusses how he only agreed to fight for Russia to “find any kind of loophole” that would help him escape his imprisonment.

According to Meduza, Yakushchenko said, “I went to the front as part of Wagner Group. While on the front line, I realized that this wasn’t my war. Today, I was on the streets of Dnipro, where I was hit in the head and lost consciousness. When I came to this room, they told me I would be put on trial.”

In the video, Yakushchenko is seen sitting in a dark room with his head taped to the concrete blocks on the wall. A man in camouflage fatigues with a sledgehammer is standing behind Yakushchenko. 

The screen then goes blurry as Yakushchenko is struck in the head with the hammer, receiving further blows as he collapses to the ground.

In the words of the Wagner Group, Yakushchenko acquired the same disease as Nuzhin. This disease entails losing consciousness in the cities of Ukraine, and then you wake up in the basement at your last court session.

Was Yakushchenko killed in the sledgehammer video?

Contrary to what the video depicts, Yakushchenko was not killed in the sledgehammer video. On February 13th, 2023, Monday, a second video featuring the condemned man was released. 

In the video, he says he was ashamed to have been taken captive by Ukrainian forces, but he was ultimately able to provide Moscow with information that saved many lives.

Yakushchenko says in the footage that he was forgiven by the Wagner Group, for which he is hugely grateful. 

It’s left unclear what happened to him, though it’s possible that his execution was deliberately staged in order to cast doubt on Nuzhin’s much more realistic-appearing death video.

When Wagner’s founder was questioned about Yakushchenko’s execution, he did not give a straight answer and was seen twisting words.