Prigozhin Vows To Kill Wagner Fighter Who Defected to Russian Resistance

Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed on Monday to kill a man who he recruited into his paramilitary outfit from prison in 2022, after the former convict appeared in a video saying he is defecting to a Russian resistance group.

In an audio message on his press service's Telegram channel, Prigozhin vowed to find Vladislav Izmailov, who he called a "traitor" and said he had recruited him into the Wagner Group from a prison in the Russian city of Samara.

During an exchange of prisoners of war on Sunday, the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC) a Russian resistance group that crossed into the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine earlier this month, said that one of the Russian citizens it captured who previously fought with the Wagner Group, refused the exchange, and now wishes to join its ranks.

RVC is one of two Russian rebel groups to have entered Belgorod this month. It released a video on Sunday in which Izmailov said he wanted to join the group, whose members include Russians fighting on Ukraine's side and against the Kremlin regime.

"Indeed, Vladislav Izmailov arrived at the Wagner PMC from the Samara colony and was taken prisoner in November," Prigozhin said.

"And I am sure that he will be punished according to all the traditions of Wagner PMC. I hope that we will find and kill him in a fair fight," Prigozhin added.

The video published by RVC was filmed by its commander Denis Kapustin, commonly known by his nom-de-guerre Denis White Rex, who offered prisoners the opportunity to return to Russia, to remain in Ukraine by participating in a program, or to fight for his group.

"Guys, my name is Denis. I am from Moscow. I am Russian. I am still a citizen of the Russian Federation. And the main thing is that I am the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps. This is a unit of Russians, of citizens of Russia, who since the start of the war, fight for Ukraine. And they fight quite successfully," he began.

"Now, you have, of course, like always in life, a choice. You can be exchanged in the ordinary procedure. You can take part in the program 'I want to stay alive' and remain in Ukraine. I'll leave you the business cards here," the commander said.

"And there is a third option. You can continue to fight, but now, as I think, on the side of the good and justice. You can fight in the RVC with other citizens of Russia, but now against Putin's army and the Ministry of Defense. If there are those who would like to join the RVC among you, this is the last chance. Are there any like that here?" he asked.

At that point, Izmailov raised his hand and stood up.

"Izmailov Vladislav, I was born in 1996 in the city of Samara. I'll pass on a prisoner exchange and a return to Russia," Izmailov said, telling the commander that he formerly served with the Wagner Group.

White Rex then looked into the camera, and said: "Oh. Mr. Prigozhin, fate connects us once again in such a bizarre way."

"As this person has shown his desire, let's not hinder fate and his free will. I am sure he was a decent soldier in your ranks. Now, he will be a decent fighter of the RVC," he added.

RVC said on its Telegram channel that after "appropriate checks, we will be happy to give Vlad the opportunity to fight in our ranks."

RVC, alongside the the Freedom of Russia Legion, entered Belgorod at the beginning of June, and intense fighting has been ongoing since. The Legion is made up of defectors from the Russian armed forces and Russian and Belarusian volunteers.

Ilya Ponomarev, an exiled Russian politician who says he is the political representative for the Freedom of Russia Legion, told Newsweek that the group aims "to liberate Russia from Putinism."

Izmailov made headlines in December when he said he witnessed the execution of his fellow troops after they displayed fear on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Izmailov said he was recruited by the Wagner Group on September 27, 2022, when Prigozhin visited his prison. He said he was offered offered a contract for six months in exchange for freedom and exemption from criminal punishment, and that some 300 people from his penal colony agreed to fight in Ukraine.

Before revealing his experience on the front line, Izmailov said he wanted to give an interview because he "decided to tell the whole truth."

"Everything turned out to be different" when he and his fellow soldiers arrived in Ukraine after a two-week training course, he said.

"They said the death rate was low. But in fact, the mortality rate is very high. Few remain alive, and it will be difficult to make it through these six months alive," he said.

When pressed on reports that Russian troops are being executed if they attempt to abandon their positions on the front line, Izmailov said he witnessed the deaths of two soldiers in his unit after they displayed fear in battle.

"In the first assault, I was in the second group. The evacuation team was ahead of me. There were two people there who were just scared. Artillery worked. They were frightened—[their] first time in the war. And then these two were 'nullified' at the base," Izmailov said. "They were digging their own grave, they were simply shot and buried."

Yevgeny Nuzhin, a former Russian convict who was recruited in July 2022 by the Wagner Group, was executed in November after criticizing Russian officials and saying he wanted to switch sides.

Footage of his killing was published by the Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone. The clip showed an unidentified man hitting Nuzhin, 55, with a sledgehammer.

At the time, Prigozhin said the footage was "excellent directorial work that's watchable in one sitting," while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "it was not our business."

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