Murder of Yevgeny Nuzhin

Nuzhin was captured by Ukraine while fighting during 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a prisoner of war, he gave an interview to Ukrainian journalist Yuri Butusov, stating that he joined Wagner Group after Yevgeny Prigozhin visited his prison in Ryazan region. After training for seven days, on 25 August he was sent to the Luhansk region and on 2 September he arrived on the frontline, and on 4 September, he decided to surrender. Nuzhin said he had only joined the Wagner Group to get out of prison and quickly surrender to Ukraine. He argued that he was opposed to the Russian invasion, and expressed his hope to stay in Ukraine and the wish to fight for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

On 12 November, a Wagner Group-affiliated Telegram channel released a video titled "The hammer of revenge" showing Nuzhin's "execution for treachery" using a sledgehammer. Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Wagner Group, claimed responsibility for his killing saying that it was "dog's death for the dog." In this video Nuzhin said that he was kidnapped on 11 November 2022, while walking in the streets of Kyiv, Ukraine, although it is possible the Wagner Group forced him to say this to warn others. According to the human rights group Gulagu.net, he was either recaptured or passed back to the Russian Army which handed him over to Wagner Security Service. According to the Telegram channel "Cheka-OGPU", Nuzhin was returned on 11 November in a 45 to 45 prisoner exchange.

Yevgeny Anatolievich Nuzhin (1967 – November 2022) was a convicted Russian murderer who enlisted in Wagner Group during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was a prisoner of war in Ukraine, and was later extrajudicially murdered by the Wagner Group for alleged treason.

Nuzhin was born in 1967. As a young man, he served in the Ministry of Interior of the Russian Army. In 1999, he murdered a person and wounded another for which he was sent to prison for 24 years. In jail, he married a woman named Olga Viktorovna with whom he had two sons. He was sentenced to an additional four years in prison for an attempted escape. He spent the first four years of his sentence in hard labor camps in northern Ural. Later, he was sent to IK3 prison in Ryazan Oblast. After three years, he was sent to Vladimir after which he returned to Ryazan. While in prison, he maintained social media accounts. He expressed support for the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Ukraine.