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Russia’s Way to Enforce Discipline Reportedly Includes Chains, Beatings and Starving
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Graphic videos on Telegram messenger channels appear to show Russian commanders torturing their own troops, humiliating wounded soldiers, and forcing men back into combat, according to the Daily Mail on March 22.
The report described footage of soldiers being beaten, electrocuted, denied food, and tied naked to trees in freezing conditions after refusing orders or attempting to flee.
Other clips allegedly show injured men on crutches being rearmed and sent back to assault positions, while soldiers in frontline dugouts documented severe shortages of food, weapons, and evacuation support.
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Several of the videos were linked by anonymous sources to units including the Russia's 132nd Brigade, the 114th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, the 20th Army, and the 31st Regiment of the 25th Army.
In one clip, a soldier is chained by the neck inside a box while a commander taunts him with food.
In another, half-naked men are chained to a tree and forced to bark like dogs. The report also described footage of troops surviving on stolen potatoes and muddy water after their own army failed to supply them.
“The 132nd brigade is a force to be reckoned with. They are completely off the rails. This is what they do to servicemen who undergo medical treatment. It is nothing but humiliation, beatings, and abuse,” an anonymous soldier wrote in a Telegram message cited by the Daily Mail.
Russian military expert Keir Giles told the outlet the abuse reflects “deeper systemic issues” in Russia, adding that violence, extortion, and corruption remain embedded in the armed forces.
The outlet placed the alleged abuse in the context of Russia’s mounting battlefield losses and recruitment shortfalls.
It noted that commanders are reportedly sending men into so-called “meat storm” assaults and using punishment, coercion, and bribes to sustain manpower.
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The Daily Mail reported that thousands of complaints have been lodged against commanders over torture and unlawful treatment, but those accusations are largely ignored, while some soldiers who speak out face further punishment.
The reports also land against a wider backdrop of documented abuses tied to Russian forces during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian prosecutors have issued suspicion notices to three Russian servicemen over the March 2022 killing of a civilian in Hostomel, alleging a paratrooper company commander ordered subordinates to open fire.
Investigators stated the man was unarmed, dressed in civilian clothes, and not involved in hostilities when he was stopped in the street and shot in the head during the occupation.
The commander is suspected of violating the laws and customs of war combined with intentional murder, while the two subordinates face war-crimes allegations tied to carrying out the order by prior conspiracy.
