The barbaric execution of the deserter Evgeny Nuzhin with a sledgehammer by the Wagner group has shocked many. What is shocking here is not so much the cruelty, since death from it is almost instantaneous and no more painful than death from a bullet to the head or shrapnel from a projectile, which hundreds of people die from every day.
What is shocking is the demonstrativeness and openness of this literally terrorist (i.e., intimidating) act, and the actual acceptance of responsibility for it by a man who is increasingly shaping the policies of Putin’s Russia — Yevgeny Prigozhin.
There have been many discussions in recent days about why the «law enforcement agencies of Russia» do not react to this (a ridiculous question at best), or why the Ukrainian authorities allowed such an exchange and whether it was justified (much more serious questions).
But let us remember something else — the principle of the boomerang. After all, the sledgehammer was demonstratively used by the Wagner group in Syria in 2017 against a local resident (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=32231). And he was killed in a truly sadistic manner, not immediately and with a single blow, but first tortured and then burned alive.
Russian human rights defenders and opposition media were understandably outraged by this, but in general the reaction of the Russian population to it was indifferent, as it is to everything that happens in their country or is done by them in the world. Moreover, it can be said that many Russians approved of this sadism, because «this is how one should treat these bandits».
And now, as a result, Prigozhin’s sledgehammers begin to crush Russian heads. By the way, even now there are many who approve of this. They say, «This is the way to deal with traitors.» But there is one point — just as an ordinary prisoner Yevgeny Nuzhin could not have foreseen recently that he would become one of those «traitors», tomorrow many of those who approve of his execution today could be considered traitors themselves.
This is what Prigozhin himself writes about it: «…do not forget that there are not only traitors who throw away their guns and go over to the enemy, betraying their people and their homeland. Some of the traitors sit in offices and do not think of their own people. Some of them fly away in their private business jets to those countries that still seem neutral to us. They fly away to avoid being involved in today’s problems. They too are traitors.
In other words, it is naive to think that the sledgehammer threatens only those who surrender in captivity. As Prigozhin’s words imply, anyone «sitting in an office» can be declared a traitor, someone whose business the Wagner Group might want to take over tomorrow, or someone who does not want to assist them in their crimes. This means that very soon we may see sledgehammers swinging not only in unknown places, but also on Red Square in Lobnoye Mesto, thus reviving ancient traditions. And if you live in Russia and do not try to change this, there is no guarantee that your head will not be the one.