Yuri S., a former Wagner Group mercenary, was shot dead in the village of Karakhun in Russia’s Irkutsk region by his friend during a celebration in honor of Yuri's return from the front line in Ukraine, according to a report by Telegram channel Baza.
According to Baza, Yuri was drinking with his friend Konstantin on the evening of May 24 – during the get-together, the men had an argument, Konstantin grabbed a rifle, and shot the former mercenary.
Konstantin called the police on the spot. He now faces a criminal case for murder.
Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) mercenaries returning from the war (usually former prisoners) regularly make the criminal news reports. In May this year, a Wagner Group member was detained by police for an attack on a pensioner in Moscow. Reports also confirmed that a resident of Russia’s Oryol Region – a participant of the war in Ukraine – became a defendant in a criminal case for the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl.