Torture pits for recruits: how those who violate military discipline are punished in the Russian Federation – media

At the Prudboy training grounds in the Volgograd region and Totsky in the Orenburg region, pits were discovered that were used to punish disgruntled soldiers and violators of military discipline. Investigative journalists received information on this issue from two anonymous sources working in these training areas.

By comparing information received from sources and satellite images of the training grounds in early August this year, journalists from the Conflict Intelligence Team and the “Top Stories” publication concluded that the pits at the Prudboy training ground were most likely used in some way. torture facilities where “guilty” soldiers were held without food, water, or medical care. Previous satellite images of the site taken in April 2023 do not show these pits.

According to a CIT source who voluntarily arrived at the Prudboy training ground in June 2023, the guilty soldiers were first beaten by the military police. They were then thrown into a pit for a period of several days to a week. Most often, the reason for such punishment was the drunkenness of newcomers, most of whom were recruited in Russian colonies and prisons. According to unconfirmed information, while the source was at the test site, one of his colleagues died after lying in the pit.

“These pits cannot be said to have any economic need or to be training grounds,” claims one CIT military analyst.

Another investigative source, who deserted from the Russian army in the summer of 2023, trained at the Totsky training ground in the Orenburg region. According to him, those who violated the rules at the training ground were beaten by “a group of close friends” of the unit commander and attack aircraft with the stripe “Akhmat”. Punishment detainees were handcuffed or thrown into pits for days after the beatings.

Satellite images confirmed the existence of two pits in “Totskoye” near the field camp, but the images did not allow to draw a clear conclusion as to what purpose these pits could be used.

Journalists also learned that similar “guardhouses” existed in “Prudboy” in the late 1990s, where a soldier died there after being punished for having a dirty collar.

Let us recall that, according to American analysts, ethnically based conflicts could endanger the integrity of Russia’s defense during a Ukrainian counteroffensive. An Ossetian soldier complained that military police beat him and two other soldiers.

Focus has previously written about the conflict between Kadyrov’s men and Dagestanis. According to the statement of Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Malyar, 20 people died and 40 people were injured as a result of the conflict between Russian soldiers in the Zaporozhye region.