I was cannon fodder, says murderer freed to fight
A CONVICTED murderer recruited by Vladimir Putin to fight in Ukraine has surrendered to Kyiv, saying he was being used as ‘cannon fodder’.
After serving 24 years in jail for a 1999 killing, Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, was one of a number of prisoners who signed up with a ‘private military contractor’. They were offered their freedom if they survive six months in service.
Nuzhin, now in the custody of the Ukrainian army, said he realised he was simply being sent to his death when he and his unit were ordered to help find dead or injured Russian soldiers on the battlefield in Luhansk this month.
He said he defected because the training was poor and he had family in Ukraine.
He added: ‘As far as I understood, [we were] cannon fodder. If you didn’t follow instructions, they would shoot you.’