"Zachistka" and "obnulenye" are two frequently used words by two ex-inmates who were pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin in exchange for enlisting in Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin's private army. Translated from Russian, they mean "cleansing" and "reduction to zero", in both cases - in military jargon - it is about physical liquidation, extermination.

Interviewed by the organization Gulagu.net, which investigates the crimes committed by the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation against their own people and neighboring countries, Azamat Uldarov (Saratov Correctional Colony No. 13) and Alexey Savichev (Voronezh Correctional Colony No. 1) reported in lavish detail how Wagner mercenaries and Russian regular forces kill civilians in Ukraine in cold blood, without distinguishing between men and women or adults and children. 

Alexey Savichev (left) and Azamat Uldarov, Wagner mercenaries and confessed murderers. 

Uldarov and Savichev clearly admit that they had participated in acts of atrocity and have innocent blood on their conscience, which they "regret", but they also state that they had acted on direct orders of their superiors, including Prigozhin, who personally obliges mercenaries to "kill everything what's moving," regardless of the consequences.

The punishment for ignoring an order is one: humiliation and death, and the sentence is frequently carried out on the spot, without formalities or conviction by a legally constituted tribunal, the two said, giving examples of multiple executions of their comrades.

The testimonies by Uldarov and Savichev, who are currently in Russia, will certainly attract the attention of Ukrainian prosecutors and magistrates at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The town of Bakhmut, Ukraine, now. 

If Uldarov is motivated by remorse and a desire to take revenge on Putin's regime due to the extreme violence he had suffered in prison, the reasons why Savichev - who has more than 30 years of imprisonment behind him - collaborates with the portal that is banned in Russia are not entirely clear. Especially since discussions with the press are sanctioned by physical annihilation.

Next, News-Cafe.eu publishes a few fragments of journalist Vladimir Osechkin's dialogue with the two mercenaries, in order to understand the extent of the crimes committed by the Moscow regime.

Uldarov [min 5:15]:

"Mercenaries and killers, mercenaries and killers - this is our motto.

Just so you know. Do you understand? And I'll have to live with that."

Savichev [min 6:00]:

"I’ve spent (in prison) all my life and I wanted to change the picture. They recruited people who knew how to kill. And I know how to kill. That's about it...".

Savichev [min 7:50]:

"Did you hear about the not-so-good tying up of apostates and handing them over to the FSB? Have you never heard? ... this when the head is tied to his balls and the bottom starts to crack. We call it obscene bandaging. It happens if the guy refuses to comply with an order".

Savichev says he witnessed or participated in the execution of about 70 combatants, Russian citizens, by their comrades for refusing to fight. They were killed either by shooting or by smashing their heads with a sledgehammer. Some of them demonstratively in front of the new groups of prisoners arriving at the frontline.

According to the mercenaries, alcoholism is a very widespread phenomenon among combatants - resulting in conflicts with the use of their weapons - and commanders often resort to extreme measures to curb drunkenness while on duty.

Asked if anyone was investigating the illegal executions of Russian fighters, Savichev replied "no chance, as long as Prigozhin greets Putin personally."

Savichev [min 22:42]:

"Who gave the order, you ask me? There is a commander named Gilgamesh... from the same unit as me. (about 60 dead and wounded fighters, Russian and Ukrainian, buried in a trench 1.2 m wide, 2 m deep and 8 m long, in the town of Bakhmut) ...Those who came to us wanted to dig a trench but they probably didn't succeed. I don't know how many people were there, about 60 for sure. How many of them were still breathing, I don't really know. I had orders to blow them up and set them on fire. We saw ours, we reported, but the commander said they were no longer ours and we must get rid of all of them. I did as I was told. I used a maximum of 30 grenades. ... Later I poured gasoline over what was left."

Savichev [min 31:36], after a prisoner exchange on 23 February 2023:

"A group of civilians from Bakhmut wanted to go over to our side. At first everything was normal, they were coming out (from hidouts). Then I received an order to shoot everyone over the age of 15, on the spot. No explanations. When the Ukrainian artillery started working, the (execution) process stopped... Of the 23 or 24 people already shot, 10 were teenagers."

Savichev [min 35:52]:

"We received an order to "clean" a house (where prisoners and mercenaries who refused to fight were held), and that means it had to be clean... We broadcasted on the radio that no living person is in that house. You can judge me, I'm not saying anything, it's your right. But I still want to live".

Uldarov [min 37:33], about the illegal execution of a prisoner:

"...That video, I know who made it, what kind of people they are. ...those motherfucking boys exaggerated, they shouldn't film things like that, no one should see, it's too cruel. ...I was 15 meters away from them, but I couldn't open my mouth, I couldn't do anything at all".

Uldarov [min 39:50]:

"I want to punish everyone. Russia and other countries must know the truth. I am against war and bloodshed. Do you see the hand I'm holding the cigarette in? With this hand I killed children while carrying out an order. What you saw in that video is a trifle... What I did in Soledar and Bakhmut, that's a true show! We had been ordered to destroy them all. We reached our destination - 150 Wagnerovists altogether. And we advance killing everyone in our path – women, men, pensioners, children. Do you understand what I’ve been through?".

Uldarov [min 39:50], about the murder of a little girl in Soledar:

"For me it was... I don't know. She was a 5-6-year-old child, she screamed... And I shot her, do you understand? Then a control bullet. Understand? I wasn't supposed to kill anyone. No one! Although we had orders to kill everyone in our way... There was Prigozhin above us who said not to let anyone escape".

Uldarov [min 42:54]:

"Both peoples are Slavs, they share the same faith... Both them and us are human beings. We kill each other. Why are we killing each other, I really don't get it? ...I feel like screaming, crying, but I'm tired of crying, to be honest".

Select the English subtitle language from "settings/ automatic translation/ English" in Youtube and watch this video clip in the translation provided by Google.