The head of Russian mercenary outfit Wagner has denied the group's involvement in the execution of one of its fighters in Ukraine, having earlier said the man deserved a "dog's death".
Last week, social media accounts linked to Wagner shared footage of the brutal killing of a man who had reportedly surrendered to Ukrainian forces before being returned to Moscow's forces.
The man, who identified himself as Yevgeny Nuzhin, was shown receiving a fatal blow to the head with a sledgehammer.
Wagner's head Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman close to the Kremlin, had praised what he described as "magnificent work", calling the murdered man a "dog".
"A dog should have a dog's death," he said.
However, in a fresh statement this morning, Mr Prigozhin denied his private fighting group had played any role in the execution of Nuzhin, a convicted murderer.
Instead, he blamed US secret services without substantiating his accusations.
"It's the practice of US intelligence services, which abduct people, including Russian citizens, across the world," Mr Prigozhin said, calling on Russian prosecutors to open an investigation.
"Wagner employees are distinguished by their exemplary discipline and strict adherence to international standards and globally accepted rules of social behaviour," Mr Prigozhin added.
The Russian rights group, Gulagu.net which advocates for prisoners in Russian detention said that Nuzhin had been in prison in Russia and was recruited by Wagner to fight in Ukraine.
Mr Prigozhin has been accused of personally participating in a recruitment drive by offering contracts at Russian prisons, vowing that those who surrender or are captured would be killed.
The 61-year-old businessman in September disclosed for the first time that he had founded the Wagner group in 2014 to fight in Ukraine and acknowledged its presence in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
Several rights groups have brought legal proceedings against Wagner, accusing its members of having in 2017 tortured and murdered a pro-regime fighter who had deserted in Syria.
This month, Wagner opened a headquarters in Russia's second city of St Petersburg.
In the video, Nuzhin said he was abducted in Kyiv on 11 October and came around in a cellar. He is attacked and killed as he speaks to the camera.
In his initial comments, Mr Prigozhin, who has been sanctioned by the US and European Union for his role in Wagner, said: "Nuzhin betrayed his people, betrayed his comrades, betrayed consciously. Nuzhin was a traitor."
In further remarks about the execution video, Mr Prigozhin also issued a warning to others in Russian society whom he described as traitors.
"Do not forget, there are not only traitors who throw away their automatic guns and go over to the enemy," he said.
"Some traitors are holed up in offices, not thinking about their own people.
Some of them use their own business jets to fly to those countries that seem neutral to us so far. They fly away so as not to participate in today's problems. They are traitors too."
Germany, Spain to train Ukraine troops
Meanwhile, Germany and Spain are planning to train thousands of Ukrainian troops under an EU programme.
Their assistance adds to announcements already given by other EU countries that they will train Ukrainian soldiers on their territories.
The European Union is launching its largest ever military training mission aimed at preparing an initial 15,000 Ukrainian troops for the battlefield.
The main hub for the mission will be in Ukraine's EU neighbour Poland, with a secondary headquarters set up in Germany.
Germany's Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said at a meeting of EU counterparts in Brussels that Berlin was planning to train 5,000 Ukrainians "in a wide range of skills" by next June.
Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said her country would train 400 troops every two months, with a total capacity of 2,400 a year.
She said facilities had already been put in place at a training facility in the central city of Toledo to house the troops.
France last month announced that it would train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
Britain, Canada and the United States - all fellow NATO countries - have already been training Ukrainian military personnel, in Britain and at a US base in Germany.
