Azamat Uldarov was pardoned by the Russian president at the end of August last year. Since then and until a few weeks ago, he has been fighting for the Wagner Group in Ukraine.
He admits to crimes he committed against Ukrainians and other former Russian prisoners in an interview with Gulagu.net. It is a human rights organization that has been working to eliminate torture in Russian prisons since the 1980s. The same organization claims that they helped the Russian alleged Wagner defector Andrei Medvedev escape to Norway.
Regrets war crimes
In the interview from his home in the city of Saratov, Azamat Uldarov says he regrets his war crimes.
"We have the same beliefs and we are human beings. We are the same. I don't understand why we murder each other," he says.
At the same time, he wants to return to the war as soon as possible, but points out that he does not intend to fight for the Wagner Group, he wants to be recruited by the Russian Armed Forces.
"A lot of people talk about getting a taste for blood and yes I got it, but I suffer with my guys and that's why I want to go back.
"Murder is something I know"
Alexei Savichev, also a former commander of Wagner, was pardoned by Putin at the beginning of September last year. In the video for Gulagu.net, he says that he has been inside for 30 years and wanted to see something different.
"They hired everyone who wanted to murder and murder is something I can do," he says.
He testifies to torture within the Wagner Group that was used against those who refused to obey orders. He claims to have witnessed 70 cases of Wagner soldiers being murdered for refusing to follow orders. According to him, this is the reason why he himself murdered Ukrainian civilians.
Denies the confessions
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, has followed revelations published on Gulagu.net and is now addressing Alexei Savichev in a recorded message.
"It is important that he contact the Wagner Call Centre and explain why he has given this false information. Come and tell us everything. I guarantee that you will leave here alive and unharmed," Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel.
Today, the day after the commanders' confessions were published, Azamat Uldarov has given a new interview in which he denies everything he said before and says that Yevgeny Prigozhin is a great person who saved his life.
Ukraine's prosecutor investigates the testimonies
Andriy Yermak, chief of staff of Ukraine's presidential office, has commented on the video on his Telegram channel, saying: "A confession is not enough. There must be a punishment. Hard and fair. And it definitely will be."
Now the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has opened an investigation.