In Syria, A Mutilated Corpse, Video Evidence, And New Scrutiny For Russian Mercenaries

A report by Candace Rondeaux was referenced in an article for Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty about Russian mercenaries in Syria.

MOSCOW -- The graphic video shows four men in camouflage gear exchanging jokes in unaccented Russian as they pour flammable liquid over a man's mutilated corpse strung up on two wooden beams.

Before setting it alight and watching it burn as they pose for the camera, they scrawl a Russian phrase praising the country's airborne forces on its chest.

The clip of the brutal murder in Syria, apparently filmed in the summer of 2017, resurfaced this week in the wake of an investigation by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

The newspaper ties the men to Vagner, a shadowy Russian mercenary group widely believed to be spearheading the expansion of Russian influence across Africa and the Middle East.

In its report published late on November 20, Novaya Gazeta identified one of the men shown in the clip as a former police officer from the southern Russia region of Stavropol who promised to "represent the interests of Russia abroad" in a form he allegedly submitted to Vagner upon joining the organization in 2016.