A Russian warlord poses over the body of a U.S. military veteran killed in Ukraine, then makes a bizarre remark about sending it back to the U.S. with a national flag as a sign of respect.

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Bakhmut's Ukrainian tank

Ukrainian tanks on the front line in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, February 12, 2023.Libkos/AP Photo

  • Wagner mercenary leader Evgeny Prigozhin poses over the corpse of a US military veteran in Ukraine.

  • This man turned out to be a retired sergeant. Nicholas Maimer.

  • Curiously, Mr. Prigogine said the mercenaries would cover the bodies with American flags and send them back to the United States.

Russian oligarch-turned-warlord Evgeny Prigozhin poses over the corpse of a US military veteran who died fighting in Ukraine. According to a video posted on Telegram.

The video appeared to show American documents identifying the dead soldier as a retired Army Staff Sergeant. Nicholas Meimer, from Idaho.mimer’s uncle Identified with an Idaho politician.

In the video, Prigogine bizarrely said that as a sign of respect, the group would send the American flag-clad corpse back to the United States.

“So we will hand him over to the United States, place him in a coffin, and honorably cover him with the Stars and Stripes, because he likely died in the war, not in his bed as a grandpa.” valuable [death],That’s right? ” Prigogine said in the video. According to CNN’s translation.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Perry Blackburn, a close friend of Maymer and founder of AFGFree, a non-profit organization that Maymer worked in Ukraine, told CNN that Maymer was in the Bakhmut building when the gunfire hit. said it was destroyed. .

CNN reported that Ukrainians who were with Maymar at the time believed that she was either buried under the rubble of a collapsed building or died in a “barrage” of Russian artillery. He added that there are.

A soldier who appeared in a Telegram video posted on Wagner’s account claimed to have shot back at the Russian soldier when Meimer died.

Prigogine said, “He was shooting back. He died in battle. So tomorrow morning we’ll give him his papers and we’ll put it all together, right?” According to a CNN translation.

In a June 2022 interview with the Idaho Statesman, Meimer said he felt called to help when war broke out.

“I think this is one of the most blatantly unwarranted aggressions in recent history,” Meimer said at the time. “Everyone knew it was an unfair invasion, so I felt like my moral compass was pointing in that direction.”

According to one of Maimer’s friends,Maymar has “trained Ukrainian soldiers and officers” and “began to amass and organize a large training manual for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

read the original article business insider

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