Ukrainian Security Service explains why Prigozhin ordered his troops not to take prisoners

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

Major General of the Ukrainian Security Service’s (SBU) reserve commented on Prigozhin's statements about the Wagner fighters holding the occupied territories of Ukraine and the ban on taking Ukrainian prisoners of war.

"A significant number of Russian soldiers who surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine are Wagner troops. And in order to stop this process, Prigozhin scares his mercenaries with such statements, saying that if we do not take prisoners, then the other side will not take prisoners either. That is, if you surrender, you will definitely be tortured or shot. Accordingly, these statements are for internal use, because Prigozhin has already received sentences for his crimes not only for years, but also for many metres into the ground," said Viktor Yahun.

Yahun added that Wagner Group’s mercenaries not only lack power at the front, but they cannot hold the population in the occupied territories under their control. Ukrainians are fiercely resisting the invading Russian forces, so Prigozhin ordered his mercenaries to cling to the occupied lands with their claws.

• On April 23, the owner of the Russian private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that from now on his fighters would not take Ukrainian defenders prisoner.