Wagner mercenaries confess to killing dozens of Ukrainian children. Zelenskyy promises to find everyone

They told this to the Russian Gulagu.net human rights group.

Azamat Uldarov and Aleksey Savichev are former convicts from Russian prisons and ex-commanders of Wagner PMC units. They were both pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin and are currently on the territory of the aggressor country.

During the week, the men testified during video and audio interviews for the Gulagu.net project. They said that orders were given by both the commanders of the Wagner PMC units and its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Wagner's members shared with the project founder Volodymyr Osechkin the details of the shooting of more than 20 Ukrainian children and teenagers, the blowing up of a pit with more than 50 wounded prisoners and those who refused to carry out criminal orders to kill Ukrainians and left the war.

Wagner's mercenaries also told Osechkin about the so-called ‘clearing’ of residential buildings. During this process, they killed everyone, including children.

According to Savichev, after the exchange of prisoners of war in February 2023, Russian officers ordered the execution of all those older than 15. 

"Civilians came out. And there was an order: everyone who was 15 and older was to be shot at once without a word. They shot 20-24 people, 10 of them were 15- and 17-year-olds," he said.

When asked how many civilians he had killed, the mercenary said that 15-year-old Ukrainians "can hardly be called civilians." He also added that in Wagner's PMC, failure to comply with orders, including the killing of civilians, is punishable by execution.

In addition, Savichev participated in the massacre of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and members of Wagner's PMC in Bakhmut in January 2023. He said that there were about 60 people there. He used 30 grenades to kill them, after which the bodies were burned.

"They were breathing, there were no screams. I was ordered to come, blow them up and set them on fire. I didn't look to see how many people were breathing, how many were alive. I just saw my own people there, reported to the commander, and he told me that they were no longer ours," the militant said.

Uldarov said that his unit was ordered to "kill everyone" during the storming of Soledar and Bakhmut. According to him, he ‘cleared’ the basement of a 9-storey building with 300-400 civilians, 40 of whom were children.

"I fulfilled the order with this hand, I killed the children. You know, on orders. The fact that we ... We were given the command to clear and kill everyone... We went and killed everyone – women, men, pensioners and children, including little ones, five-year-olds," the mercenary said, adding that he "had no choice."

In addition, Uldarov admitted that he shot a 5-year-old girl in the head when they were entering Soledar and Bakhmut.

"She's screaming, she's a little kid, you know. I shot a 5-6-year-old girl as a control shot," said the Wagner fighter.

One of the mercenaries also said that once Wagner's militants got drunk and took 15 Kadyrov prisoners because they did not want to fight.

The head of Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak responded to the stories of the Wagner mercenaries.

"Russian terrorists confessed to killing Ukrainian children in Bakhmut and Soledar. Now we are talking about war criminals from the Wagner PMC, but this sheds light on the crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine. They steal our children and kill them," Yermak wrote.

He once again reminded that Russia is a nation of inhumans and murderers.

"One confession is not enough. There must be punishment. Harsh and fair. And it will definitely be. We will learn all the facts of the crimes and find everyone who committed them. The Russians abducted thousands of Ukrainian children. We do not know how many of them are still alive. We are doing everything to bring our children back. The world should see the face of Russia, not be afraid, but beat it hard," added Yermak.

• As of April 17, at least 470 children have been killed and over 948 wounded as a result of Russia's armed aggression in Ukraine.