Russian gangsters abuse Wagner boss: “No man with self-respect would kill women and children in Ukraine”

Sasha Kurara is the name of the man who is tough on the head of the notorious Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Kurara spent almost half of his 50 years in prison – according to his own statements, partly together with Prigozhin.

In a video that is currently circulating on social media, Kurara reports that the now feared Wagner boss was at the bottom of the prison hierarchy. “He had his place and knew his place, and he accepted his place,” says Kurara. Kurara also claims that Prigozhin gave him oral sex on multiple occasions. Kurara also insults Prigozhin in a homophobic manner in the video.

With these statements, whether they are true or not, Kurara wants to humiliate Prigozchin. Homosexuals are discriminated against by law in Russia and also ostracized in society. Homophobic insults to devalue others are not uncommon. At the same time, rape among male inmates is common and part of brutal demonstrations of power among inmates.

Victims of such rapes are often excluded and beaten. They are considered “offended” or “roosters”, imprisonment for the lowest in the hierarchy.

Kurara’s statements are explosive in that they are not only an attack on the Wagner boss personally, but also criticism of the Russian war in Ukraine. Prigozhin’s mercenaries fight there alongside Russian soldiers. Because of the high casualties, Prigozhin has now begun recruiting Russian prison inmates for his mercenary army.

Russian underworld criticizes war in Ukraine

In his video, Kurara warns prisoners against joining the Wagner army. “You want an amnesty? You want early release?” Kurara asks. And he then describes in drastic words what sexual humiliation the mercenaries supposedly expect. In another video, Kurara insults Wagner mercenaries.

As proof of his credibility and reputation in the underworld, Kurara shows his numerous tattoos to the camera. For example, he has epaulettes tattooed on his shoulders, which probably symbolizes a high rank in the criminal world.

A suspected crime boss who calls himself Grischa Moskowsky also recently said in a video that no “self-respecting man would go to Ukraine to kill women, children and the elderly”. A sign that the war in Ukraine is viewed very critically in the Russian underworld.

Prigozhin is said to be striving for more power within the Russian elite. The fact that he is increasingly making explosive statements to speak is taken as evidence of this. He recently admitted that Russia interfered in the 2016 US elections. So are the videos from the criminal milieu also an attempt to thwart Prigozhin’s striving for power?

Old statements by Prigozhin about “roosters” in Wagner

Against the background of the videos, earlier statements by Prigozhin were discussed again on social networks, and war commentators say they would now appear in a new light. In mid-November, Prigozhin’s press service published on Telegram answers to questions from a local Russian online portal for the Tyumen region in western Siberia.

A prisoner from Tyumen reportedly complained that he was not included on the recruitment list. He is also said to have been considered an “offended person” as someone who had been raped in prison. When asked whether this was true and whether there were separate units for recruited “offended” or “roosters,” Prigozhin replied, according to his press service:

“Prison rules say you cannot shake hands, take anything from people of low social status, or sleep with them in the same corridor or bunk. In other words, all of the above actions are ‘dirty’, it’s a shame to do so. The rest of the prisoners live together, while the ‘roosters’ are separated from them.”

Wagner proposes own ‘Hahnen-Division’ for Ukraine war

However, these conventions are a hindrance on the battlefield. In order to “avoid these inconveniences”, Prigoshin continued, “we do not include any ‘roosters’ in the Wagner PMC”. Wagner “recommended forming a separate ‘cock division’ from them”. This would “undoubtedly” boost morale. It is unclear whether Prigozhin himself once belonged to the lowest class in prison, as Sasha Kurara claims. His statements above are not necessarily proof of this.

Prigozhin was sentenced to 13 years in prison for fraud and robbery in 1981, but was released after nine years. He then ran restaurants in Saint Petersburg, where Russian President Vladimir Putin liked to dine.

Putin is said to have liked Prigozhin’s food so much that his catering company received orders to supply St. Petersburg schools. Since then, Prigozhin has been called “Putin’s cook”. But whether Prigozhin and Putin actually met in this way is not sufficiently documented, Russian journalists suspected that the two knew each other before.

The entrepreneur and ex-prisoner Prigozhin is also believed to be the owner of the “Internet Research Institute”, known as a troll factory in Petersburg. And since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, Prigozhin has more and more openly identified himself as the founder and financier of the Wagner mercenary group, and in September he officially acknowledged the existence of the group and his leadership role.

Private mercenary companies are actually forbidden under Russian law. However, the creation of the Wagner Group was commissioned by the Russian government to conduct illegal, covert operations that should not fall back on the Russian state. With a change in the law on compulsory military service in Russia in 2017, Putin created a gray area for private military companies.

The Wagner mercenaries are considered particularly brutal and unpredictable fighters. They are said to have been involved in numerous war crimes, including in Syria and currently in Ukraine. (tsp)

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