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\n Two Russian men who claim to be former Wagner Group commanders have told a human rights activist that they killed children and civilians during their time in Ukraine<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The claims were made in video interviews with Gulagu.net, a human rights organization targeting corruption and torture in Russia<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n In the video interviews posted online, former Russian convicts Azamat Uldarov and Alexey Savichev \u2013 who were both pardoned by Russian presidential decrees last year, according to Gulagu.net \u2013 described their actions in Ukraine, during Russia\u2019s invasion.\n <\/p>\n \n CNN cannot independently verify their claims or identities in the videos but has obtained Russian penal documents showing they were released on presidential pardon in September and August of 2022.\n <\/p>\n \n Uldarov, who appears to have been drinking, details how he shot and killed a five- or six-year-old girl.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201c(It was) a management decision. I wasn\u2019t allowed to let anyone out alive, because my command was to kill anything in my way,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n According to Gulagu.net, the testimonies were given to founder and Russian dissident Vladimir Osechkin over the span of a week. It said Uldarov and Savichev were in Russia when they spoke.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI want Russia and other nations to know the truth. I don\u2019t want war and bloodshed. You see I\u2019m holding a cigarette in this hand. I followed orders with this hand and killed children,\u201d Uldarov said, describing his motivation for the interview.\n <\/p>\n \n The Wagner Group is a Russian private mercenary organization fighting in Ukraine, headed by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n It has recruited tens of thousands of fighters<\/a> from Russian jails, offering freedom and cash<\/a> after a six-month tour. It\u2019s estimated by Western intelligence officials and prison advocacy groups that between 40,000 and 50,000 men were recruited.\n <\/p>\n \n Uldarov said in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Soledar<\/a> and Bakhmut \u2013 which have seen some of the fiercest fighting<\/a> \u2013 Wagner mercenaries \u201cwere given the command to annihilate everyone.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere is a superior over all the commanders \u2013 it\u2019s Prigozhin, who told us not to let anyone get out of there and annihilate everyone,\u201d he added. CNN has previously reported<\/a> on former Wagner fighters making similar claims.\n <\/p>\n \n Uldarov has since appeared to recant his account <\/a>in a video call with Prigozhin-linked Russian news agency RIA-FAN.\n <\/p>\n \n At one point in the interview, Savichev described how they \u201cgot the order to execute any men who were 15 years or older.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n He also talked about getting orders to \u2018sweep\u2019 a house. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter whether there is a civilian there or not. The house needs to be swept. I didn\u2019t give a f**k who was inside,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhether a hut or a house, the point was to make sure that there wasn\u2019t a single living person left inside,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can condemn me for this. I will not object. It\u2019s your right. But I wanted to live, too.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Savichev said Wagner fighters who did not follow orders were killed.\n <\/p>\n \n Wagner Group chief Prigozhin confirmed on his Telegram channel that he had watched parts of the video, and threatened retribution against the two former Wagner fighters. \u201cAs for what (Osechkin) filmed, I looked at the pieces of video I managed to see,\u201d he said. \u201cI can say the following: if at least one of these accusations against me is confirmed, I am ready to be held accountable according to any laws.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n But Prigozhin said that \u201cif none is confirmed, I will send a list of 30-40 people who are spitting at me like Osechkin (there is a whole list of them, including the scum that fled Russia) that the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office of Ukraine is obligated to hand over to me for a \u2018fair trial,\u2019 so to speak.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThey will not be \u201ccivilians\u201d for us, and especially not children, whom we have never touched and do not touch. This is a flagrant lie. These people (spreading the lies) are our enemies, and we will deal with them in a special way.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Earlier, Prigozhin said on Telegram: \u201cRegarding the execution of children, of course, no one ever shoots civilians or children, absolutely no one needs this. We came there to save them from the regime they were under.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president\u2019s office, said in a tweet Monday that the group must be held accountable.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cRussian terrorists confessed to numerous murders of Ukrainian children in Bakhmut and Soledar. Confession is not enough. There must be a punishment. Tough and fair. And it will definitely be. How many more crimes like these have been committed?\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n