Putin war hero, the ‘Executioner,’ exposed as ringleader of $2.5M scam that had his Russian elite troops shoot him, each other to get paid

Putin war hero, the ‘Executioner,’ exposed as ringleader of $2.5M scam that had his Russian elite troops shoot him, each other to get paid


Lt. Col. Konstantin Frolov — nicknamed the “Executioner” for his reputation as a highly skilled sniper — was identified as the mastermind behind the massive military scam where he instructed 35 officers and soldiers in Russia’s elite sniper unit, the prestigious 83rd Air Assault Brigade, to deliberately fire at him and each other, the probe recently concluded, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant. But that was just the tip of the iceberg in exposing the embellished mystique behind Frolov’s military record — including the killing of dozens of Ukrainian soldiers and claims that he had been injured on seven occasions during the war, the outlet reported. The 39-year-old military leader had been featured prominently as a darling of state media, like when he appeared in a video shared by the Russian Defense Ministry last year to hail soldiers fighting in Putin’s more than three-year-old war in Ukraine

Author: Gabrielle Fahmy


Published at: 2025-08-23 20:15:36

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