In a video broadcast on the Wagner Telegram group on Tuesday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian private military organisation Wagner, claimed a US citizen had killed in the troubled Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
“We are advancing to the advanced positions of the PMC Wagner in the western regions of Artyomovsk,” Alexander Simonov, a pro-Kremlin military blogger, says in the video’s introduction. Artyomovsk is the Russian name for Bakhmut.
The video was captured at night and features what appears to be a mortar bombardment. “Get in the shelter,” the soldiers yell. attacks with mortars coming from the west.
Prigozhin is shown inspecting a body, and what he claims are US identification documents.
CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the documents and cannot confirm the nationality of the body shown in the video. CNN is not naming the deceased pending confirmation of his identity.
Prigozhin says, “So we will hand him over to the United States of America, we’ll put him in a coffin, cover him with the American flag with respect because he did not die in his bed as a grandpa but he died at war and most likely a worthy [death], right?”
A soldier claims that the man was returning fire when he died. Prigozhin replies, “He was shooting back; he died in the battle, so we will hand over his documents tomorrow morning and pack everything, right?”
Prigozhin and Wagner group frequently post videos for propaganda purposes, and often mix real footage with propaganda claims. CNN has reached out to the US State Department for comment.