A senior Russian politician on Friday published a picture of himself clutching a sledgehammer given to him by the Wagner mercenary group, a tool it has adopted as a symbol of vengeance since one was used to murder a Wagner defector last year.
The macabre gift appeared to be a thank you to Sergei Mironov, leader in parliament of the Kremlin-loyal A Just Russia party, for his support for Wagner and its exploits on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine.
