Down Angle Symbol A symbol in the form of an angle pointing downwards. A video shows fighters from Russia's Storm-Z force declaring on June 28 that they will no longer fight in Ukraine in protest at treatment by their commanders. Gulagu.net/Portal
- Russian soldiers are facing brutal punishments on the Ukrainian front, the newspaper Verstka reported.
- Soldiers claim that convict soldiers mistreat their comrades while their commanders stay away from the front lines.
- The media published videos that appeared to show naked soldiers being beaten and others being tied to trees.
Russian soldiers on the front lines in Ukraine are being subjected to brutal extrajudicial punishments, including being tied to trees for days, forced to rape each other and thrown naked into pits, according to a shocking article by the independent Russian news agency Verstka.
The media interviewed several Russian soldiers over three months who described brutal conditions in which troops recruited from Russian prisons harass and abuse mobilized soldiers while their commanders remain stationed a safe distance from the front.
“Our convicts have completely lost their heads,” one soldier told Verstka, citing the lack of rotation at the front and the rising death toll as reasons for his anger.
Received the socket a video It appeared to show four naked men who were beaten and insulted by military personnel and then forced to enter a dug pit.
Verstka reported that a soldier shouted at the naked victims: “What are you doing, you damn dog? Don't move, everyone gets up… And you run into the hole, whore, to copulate. Run, you fat bitch, whore.”
Business Insider was unable to verify the claims made in the article.
The soldier who shared the video with Verstka, Misha Maltsev, said that this was a typical form of unofficial punishment for those who drink alcohol or take drugs while on duty.
He further claimed that the vigilante troops then “then force them to have sex. They sit there and watch the whole thing. They laugh and piss on themselves. Like they were watching TV.”
Handcuffed to trees
“It’s hell here,” said another Russian soldier. “They kill each other. The Ukrainians are killing each other. The orders are stupid. Everyone understands that you can’t succeed, but they still send them to their deaths.”
Verstka also released a video that appeared to show an unknown soldier being tied to a tree.
Even those who refuse to fight face brutal punishments. Russian soldier Semyon Kiskorov told the outlet that they were handcuffed or tied to trees for days and not allowed to eat or drink.
Kiskorov claimed that this happened to him and his brother in November 2023 after they refused to commit an attack.
Maltsev told Verstka that wounded soldiers are stitched up and sent back to battle, and the corpses of their dead comrades often rot around them.
The outlet noted that Maltsev and his entire unit were killed after speaking with them in December 2023 in the village of Krynky on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, where Ukraine has established a bridgehead.
In a third video, two men appear to be beaten with sticks while machine guns are fired close to their heads. You can hear groans, screams and blows on people's bodies. “This is it, please forgive me,” howls one of those being “punished.”
Russia’s “Storm Z” units
Russian soldiers take part in military exercises at the Uspenovskyi training area outside the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, on September 4, 2022. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
The Russian army suffered heavy losses throughout the war. Some analysts describe the use of “human wave” tactics, attempting to overwhelm Ukrainian positions by sending masses of soldiers on foot.
These soldiers are often poorly trained or inadequately equipped, leading to rising death tolls.
Last year, the Kremlin deployed “Storm Z” units. Some of the troops in this force are convicted criminals who go to fight in exchange for a break from their sentence.
According to a press release translated by Pravada, Ukraine has stated that Storm Z has extremely low combat capability.
The soldiers of this group suffer from alcoholism, looting and are prone to desertion, said the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine