Wagner fighter confesses war against Ukraine as crime
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Many truths are beginning to spill from the failed coup in Russia where the private military company, Wagner Mercenary group, escalated its feud with the state military forces to the government of Russia and declared doubts about the intention of the war in Ukraine.
One of the former Wagner fighters, Marat Gabidullin, who claims that the group is better war machine than the conventional Russian forces, has also revealed that the mercenaries know that their contract to fight in Ukraine was sharing the Russian crime.
Gabidullin who is reportedly on exile in Frane shared the view earlier expressed by the Wagner mercenary boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, that the invasion of Ukraine was unjustifiable and that the Russian people have been deceived on the intentions of the war.
Gabidullin who was one of the closest assistants of Prigozhin told the news agency that “I have always stated that the war against Ukraine is a crime, and Wagner has tarnished its reputation by participating in this war.”
He also denied war crime allegations against the group a part of alleged campaigns to delegitimize its security contracts with Russia and other countries that engage the services of the Kremlin backed group. The Wagner mercenaries are accused of not just war crimes; it is also accused of playing roles in destabilizing the Sahel region of Africa where it is helping keep dictators in power against the will of their people.
Gabidullin who now lives a more reasonable and quiet life in France said: “I don’t believe that Wagner fighters commit crimes against civilians. It would damage Prigozhin’s image, as he claims himself as a defender of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, and Donbas is a region where many Russian-speaking people are located.
“Personally, I think all the excitement around Wagner is a well-funded campaign by interested parties to discredit Wagner and push them out of Africa. The participants in this campaign actually don’t care about Ukraine; they are working for the money they receive from sponsors.”
He argued that “all accusations of war crimes by Wagner fighters are based solely on testimonies that are not supported by independent investigations. Often such testimonies lack any legal force. The accounts of crimes committed by Wagner in Mali are provided by individuals who are hostile toward the military authorities that have taken control of the country, and there is a lack of functioning independent sources of information in Mali.”
