Men claiming to be ex-Wagner mercenaries attack journalist for photographing gas station queue in Russia

Two men claiming to be former members of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group abducted a freelance correspondent for the independent local media outlet It’s My City in Yekaterinburg on Tuesday after he attempted to take photos of a gas station queue, according to the outlet.

The incident occurred after the journalist noticed a long queue of cars at a gas station and decided to photograph it for his archive. At that moment, two men from the queue reportedly ran up to him, grabbed him by his clothes and bag, and accused him of working for Ukrainian intelligence services. They told him that “guys are dying at the front” because of people like him.

According to the journalist, the men then proceeded to punch him in the chest, take his phone, and ask, “Want to go to the special military operation?” They also called the police and reported that they had caught someone “filming gas stations for the Ukrainians”. Officers did not come to the scene.

The journalist deleted the photo, but the men still didn’t release him until they had photographed his passport information and checked his phone one more time.