2023-04-21 12:18:09
Wladimir Oschekin
He spoke to the child killers – “Wagner wants to kill me by the end of the year”
Vladimir Oschekin has powerful enemies. Now even more so: He has published disturbing statements from two ex-commanders of the Russian mercenary group Wagner. An interview.
published
He “cleaned” a basement with civilians, including about 40 children, according to ex-Wagner commander Uldarow.
Gulagu.net/ 20 minutes
Vladimir Oschekin (41) is the founder of Gulagu.net.
He heads the Russian human rights organization from exile in France.
The organization denounces human rights violations in Russian prisons.
But now Oschekin has taken on the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
In an interview, he explains how this came about and what risks he now has to live with.
This caused great horror among those who read 20 Minutes: In a video, the two former Wagner fighters Azamat Uldarow and Aleksei Savitchew tell the Russian human rights organization Gulagu.net about their war crimes in Ukraine. “We were ordered to kill anyone who stood in our way. So did we. There were women, men, pensioners and children,” reports Uldarow. In Bachmut he “cleaned” a basement with between 300 and 400 civilians, including about 40 children.
Vladimir Osechkin drew the horror descriptions of the two Russians. 20 minutes talked to the founder of Gulagu.net.
Vladimir, how did the recordings come about?
Last September we conducted a first interview with an ex-Wagner commander, Andrei Medvedev. He described how the mercenaries kill their own fighters if they don’t want to fight in Ukraine. We helped him escape and apply for political asylum in Norway. That triggered something: Several Wagner people contacted us, openly or anonymously. Among them were Azamat Uldarov and Aleksei Savitchev.
Why did the two speak so openly with Gulagu.net?
Neither of them got along in normal life – on the one hand because they had been in prison for a long time, on the other hand because after their recruitment by the Wagner Group they saw what was happening in the war. They wanted to bear witness and reveal Wagner’s secrets.
“This group is not a military unit, but a terrorist organization.”
Wladimir Osechkin
So did they know that they will be recorded and their testimonies will be published?
Yes, of course, we talked about that. As I said, they contacted us knowing that we would publish their testimonies. You’ve done bad things. It is difficult for some to be alone with the knowledge of such acts. You feel the need to explain what happened. They want to ease their conscience. They understand that a great many people have died and that this is an unjust war.
Why do you trust the authenticity of the statements of the two?
It was very important for us that the two told the same congruent monstrosities independently of each other. So Uldarov didn’t know that we had spoken to Sawitchew and vice versa. We now have three ex-commandes who speak of Wagner’s war crimes. This is very important for the indictment against Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and other Wagner greats like Dimitri Utrin. We must demonstrate in no uncertain terms that this group is not a military entity, but is in fact a terrorist organization.
“Udarov was forced to take everything back in a video.”
Wladimir Osechkin
Uldarov and Savitchev incriminate themselves heavily. Isn’t that life-threatening?
You run the risk of being kidnapped and killed by Wagner, yes. At the same time, it now also protects the public. It’s like the imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny. He’s only alive because his case is so prominent. So if the two show their faces, it is also a protection for them. However, Udarov was threatened by Prigozhin’s bodyguard and forced to take everything back in a video. Yesterday morning he left me an audio message saying he still wants to talk to us.
Do the two hope that they can escape with the help of Gulagu.net?
No, they didn’t ask for help from us. They want to stay in Russia. And frankly, I don’t want to give child killers like you money to escape either.
“For a lot of money and power I should stop my investigations.”
Wladimir Osechkin
How do you get your information?
We have focused on torture and human rights abuses in Russia’s prisons for over 11 years. Because of this, we can access many sources in the Russian prison system and inmates’ families and ex-inmates as informants. Last year, for example, we were able to prove that Wagner boss Prigozhin, with Putin’s blessing, has been recruiting thousands of prisoners and sending them to war since last fall.
They fled Russia in 2015. Why?
I was President of the Human Rights Commission of the Russian Parliament in 2013/2014. In 2011 I also founded Gulagu.net, which documents human rights violations in Russian prisons. When Crimea was annexed in 2014 and the Donbass war started, we saw a lot of human rights violations. For a lot of money and power I should stop my investigations. When I refused and continued, security forces stormed my home, confiscating all my documents and my computer. They told me: You only stay free if you work with us. But I didn’t want to be a puppet of the Putin regime, I wanted to save my family and our freedom. On September 9th, 2015 we left Russia. In October we applied for political asylum in France. I am eternally grateful to France for that. Here I was given the opportunity to further expose the abuses under Vladimir Putin’s regime.
“It is the biggest drama of the Russian people that under Putin, fascism is now coming from Russia.”
Wladimir Osechkin
Are you afraid for your life in France?
Putin’s henchmen tried to kill me twice. Investigations are underway in France. According to my sources, Wagner boss Prigozhin wants me dead by the end of the year. By the way, two days ago Prigozhin circulated the fake news that I had been kidnapped and taken back to Russia. So yes, I am a target of the regime and the Wagner terrorist group. These are very powerful enemies and I am aware that I could very well be killed by the end of the year. My family and friends are very concerned. But we have no choice. People are dying every day, Russians and Ukrainians, and we have to do something about it.
How can you protect yourself?
I’ve been under personal protection since last year. But I’m not a superman with ten lives, just a human rights activist. I could keep quiet and enjoy life, but how can I do that when hundreds are dying every day? I have to do my best and fight against it. If they kill me I hope my children and their children will understand why I did what I did. My grandfather fought in the Soviet Army against the Nazis. He died within the first months, but he fought against fascism. It is the greatest drama of the Russian people that under Putin fascism now emanates from Russia.
Vladimir Osechkin: “I didn’t want to be a puppet of the Putin regime.”
Good to know
Gulagu.net is a Russian anti-corruption and human rights organization. It was founded in 2011 by Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin. He fled to France in 2015, from where he runs the organization.
Since November 2021, Russia has been searching for Osechkin after he published a vast archive of documents, photos and videos with hundreds of cases of rape and torture of inmates in Russian prisons, thanks to Russian whistleblowers.
Osechkin also uses a number of other sources in Russian prisons and the Russian FSB secret service. Gulagu.net regularly publishes videos of torture in Russian prisons and now also of war crimes in the Ukraine war on its website. The organization also helps dissidents to escape. The most recent example is ex-Wagner fighter Andrei Medvedev, who fled Russia and applied for asylum in Norway.
With the daily update you stay informed about your favorite topics and don’t miss any more news about current world events.
Receive the most important information directly in your mailbox every day.
#Vladimir #Oschekin #Wagner #kill #year