The Nestka publication confirmed the identity of a Russian prisoner who was captured in Ukraine and asked not to be returned to Russia. The prisoner's name is really Alexander Bolchev, he was recruited by Wagner PMC.
On December 4, Ukrainian journalist Yuri Butusov published a video with a captured Russian who introduced himself as Alexander Bolchev and said that he was recruited by the Wagnerites in a colony in the Lipetsk region. He was sent to Bakhmut. According to Bolchev, the former prisoners were threatened with execution when retreating.
“I don’t want (for an exchange), because they will immediately kill me. I know they will kill me. There is no need for any, please, exchange, ”said the Russian.
According to him, Wagner PMCs recruit prisoners serving sentences for various crimes – theft, robbery, robbery, drug sales, rape. In addition, the prisoner said that in the PMC Wagner "there are detachments of" lowered ". Sexually abused prisoners are sent to fight separately from other prisoners, digging trenches and toilets.
At the same time, Bolchev said that he did not know about the story of Yevgeny Nuzhin, a prisoner from PMC Wagner, who was executed with a sledgehammer after the exchange of prisoners.
Nestka managed to contact Bolchev's sister, who confirmed his identity. "This is my brother. He sat several times. The second time he was in Lipetsk. He stole some sheep. I didn't even understand what he was saying. I don't know why he said he didn't want to trade. He doesn’t understand anything,” the woman said.
On the last criminal case against Bolchev, "Layout" found materials in the court filing cabinet. In September 2020, the Chaplyginsky District Court sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison for stealing a six-month-old lamb (an attempt to steal a car and illegal entry into a barn also appear in the case file). The court estimated the damage at 4,000 rubles. In a conversation with Butusov, the Russian explained that he went on theft because of the lack of work in the village and "to eat."
In May 2022, the court replaced the rest of his term with 2 years and 11 months of restriction of freedom, however, Bolchev violated the conditions of release by not checking in with the inspector at the place of residence. In July he was again sent to the colony.
Before being sent to the war, he had to sit for a little more than a year. According to Bolchev, he went to PMC Wagner because of the promise to receive an amnesty and repayment of a criminal record in order to find a job later.
On November 13, the GRAY ZONE Telegram channel associated with the Wagner PMC published a video of the execution of Russian prisoner Yevgeny Nuzhin, who was recruited by Prigozhin.
In early September, Nuzhin surrendered to Ukrainian captivity, after which he gave an interview to Ukrainian journalist Yuri Butusov, where he spoke about the terrible conditions in the Russian army and that he wants to go over to the side of Ukraine. The description of the execution video states that the man "suddenly disappeared from investigation in Kyiv." Nuzhin himself in the video says that on November 11, while in Kyiv, he received a blow to the head, lost consciousness and woke up in the basement, where he found out that he "would be judged."
The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel wrote that Nuzhin returned to Russia during the last exchange of prisoners of war. The human rights project Gulagu.net published the same information: according to the information of the head of the project, Vladimir Osechkin, Nuzhin was exchanged for 20 Ukrainian military men, this was lobbied personally by Prigozhin.
Prigozhin himself commented on the video with the execution: "To a dog – a dog's death."
However, when the Kremlin began to ask questions about the video, Prigozhin changed his rhetoric, saying that Nuzhin was executed by the US and NATO special services, but he created the conditions for his own execution by infiltrating the PMC.