Putin ally running Russian mercenary army celebrates gruesome video that appears to show soldier who defected to Ukraine being executed by sledgehammer

• A video shared on Saturday appears to show the brutal execution of Russian soldier Yevgeniy Nuzhin.
• Nuzhin said he was recruited to Russia's Wagner Group and surrendered to Ukraine in September.

A video shared on a pro-Russian social media channel appears to show the brutal execution of a Russian mercenary who surrendered to Ukraine and was later captured by pro-Russian forces.

The graphic video, which Insider has seen but is not linking to, was shared on November 12 and purports to show Yevgeniy Nuzhin, a Russian convict who was recruited into the Russian Wagner Group mercenary army but who later surrendered to Ukraine and intended to fight on its behalf.

The video begins with a clip from an interview that Nuzhin gave in September in Ukraine, describing his decision to switch sides. Later, the video shows a man who closely resembles Nuzhin seemingly in Russian captivity and with his head taped to some bricks.

According to independent Russian media outlet Meduza, the man identifies himself as Nuzhin and says that he joined the fighting in order to switch sides. He then says that on November 11 he was walking in Kyiv, was knocked out and woke up in a basement, to be told he would face judgment, per Meduza.

A figure in combat gear loiters behind him, and then hits him in the head with a sledgehammer. His body falls to the floor, where another heavy blow is struck, his face out of view.

Insider was unable to verify the video, and according to Meduza Nuzhin's death has not been officially confirmed in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin has no knowledge of the incident and cannot verify it, adding: "It's none of our business," state-owned news agency RIA Novosti reported.

The video was shared by the pro-Russian channel the Grey Zone. The channel is associated with the Wagner Group, and shares recruitment calls for the private army, according to BBC Russia,

On Sunday, Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was quoted on a Concord Management Telegram channel commenting on the video and appeared to confirm the man was Nuzhin.

Concord is a catering company founded by Prigozhin, who has long had the nickname of "Putin's chef."

Prigozhin first admitted his ownership of the Wagner Group, Putin's favored mercenary army, in September.

In the Concord post, Prigozhin was quoted as celebrating the man's death, saying: "Nuzhin is a traitor."

Independent Russian outlet Important Stories reported in August that the Wagner Group was recruiting from Russian prisons.

Nuzhin's surrender to Ukraine first came to light through an interview he gave to Ukrainian journalist Yuri Butusov in September.

In it, Nuzhin says he was convicted in 1999 when he got into a "messy situation" with gangs and "had to shoot at people," whereupon he killed someone and injured another, per Butusov's translation.

In July 2022, Prigozhin visited his prison, promising a pardon and 100,000 rubles in exchange for enlistment to fight in Russia's war in Ukraine, Nuzhin said.

According to his telling, Nuzhin soon learned that he was to be "cannon fodder." He said he decided to try to surrender and to fight for Ukraine instead.

Should the man in the November 12 video be Nuzhin, several questions remain as to how he ended up being captured.

Ukraine's "I Want to Live" surrender hotline, launched two weeks after Nuzhin says he surrendered, offers clemency for Russian soldiers who wish to turn themselves in. The initiative promised confidentiality and no obligation to return to Russia, for example by way of a prisoner exchange.

It is also unclear how a prisoner of war could be walking freely about the streets of Kyiv, as the man said he was doing before he was apparently captured by pro-Russian forces.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.