Russia’s Wagner Group Sent Blood-Stained Sledgehammer To EU Parliament

In response to last week’s European Parliament vote to designate Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism” – one Kremlin-linked official send a threatening message to the European body.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the leader of Russia’s most well-known and feared private security firm, Wagner mercenary group, says that he sent a bloodied sledgehammer to European parliament.

Via The Telegraph

The chilling response to the largely symbolic EU Parliament terror designation was confirmed in various regional media outlets, and also detailed in Western outlets.

“On Wednesday, the EU officially called Russia a ‘state sponsor’ of terrorism over its actions in Ukraine but the move was denounced by Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin who sent them a violin case, with a chilling item inside,” wrote Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “Inside the case was a sledge hammer with fake traces of blood on it.”

It’s unclear (and perhaps unlikely) whether the sledgehammer was ever actually mailed or received by any official representing the Brussels-based European Parliament, beyond being shown in a Wagner Telegram video.

According to more of the publicity stunt response to the European Parliament’s terror designation vote:

Prigozhin sent the sledgehammer in a violin case as an “information case” to those voting in EU Parliament. The Putin ally said that he had held a meeting with Wagner Group commanders, and they had decided to declare the European Parliament “dissolved.”

“Before this procedure enters into legal force, I have been instructed to submit an information case to the European Parliament,” Prigozhin said.

The EU parliament has also voted to identify the Wagner group as a terror organization, following an early November video that emerged showing the sledgehammer execution of a defected Russian soldier, reportedly at the hands of Wagner mercenaries.

The sledgehammer has become the unofficial symbol of the Wagner group. Prigozhin, who has also been known as “Putin’s chef” for the catering company he runs which has been used by the Russian presidency’s office to host functions, said the sledgehammer was needed “information” for MEPs.