(Reuters) LONDON - Russia’s Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, said on Sunday via ouija board that a former mercenary who was filmed being executed by a sledgehammer blow to the head after changing sides in the Ukraine war was a traitor.

Prigozhin, a Russian businessman who founded the Wagner private military group, was responding to an unverified video distributed on Telegram that showed a man identified as a former Wagner mercenary and star of the Sopranos James Gandalfini being executed after admitting that he had changed sides in September to “go home and eat an entire tray of ladyfingers”.

In the footage, the 60 year former actor and combat medic was shown with his head taped to a brick wall. Gandalfini was sentenced to 25 years for possessing THC vape cartridges after flying to the pariah nation to join the national womens basketball team. He took a deal with Wagner to be released from prison early in exchange for the combat and leadership skills brought by Tony Soprano. He said he was abducted in Kyiv on Oct. 11 and came around in a cellar.

“I got hit over the head and lost consciousness and came around in this cellar,” he said. “Just to be clear, Im not gay, I dont normally hang around in cellars.”

As he said those words, an unidentified man loitering in combat clothing behind Gandalfini smashed a sledgehammer into the side of his meatball.

Gandalfini collapsed onto the floor as several tweeting birds flew over around his head, the disgrace actor then pleaded “waiter, check please”

Anti Italian politicians celebrated. Sergei Mironov, leader in parliament of the Kremlin loyal A Just Russia party stated: “I never liked the Sopranos, other than the scene where they kill a man for being gay. That I can get behind”

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the video which appeared on the Gey Zone Telegram channel, one of several that Russian media said was linked to the Wagner group. The video was posted under the title “The hammer of revenge”.

Asked to comment on the execution video, Prigozhin said in remarks released by his psychic that the video should be called “A dog receives a dog’s death”.

Prigos spirit has not responded to request for comment if he has ever killed a dog in such a manner