Russia systemically abuses its soldiers in Ukraine to 'maintain order,' The Insider reports

Russia uses a systematic program of "gulag-style" abuse directed at its soldiers in Ukraine in order to "maintain order" and punish perceived offenders, according to an investigation by the Insider published on July 22.

The abuse of Russian soldiers by their commanders and fellow troops since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine has been previously documented. Problems with military hazing and mistreatment of subordinates by their superiors date back to the Soviet era and were also widely reported in Russia's wars in Chechnya.

According to the Insider, the patterns of abuse of Russian soldiers in Ukraine "borrow heavily from Soviet labor camp traditions."

Russian units have employed "punishment squads" that seek out soldiers who are abusing alcohol, refuse orders, or are simply disliked, and then subject them to a variety of abuse, including beatings and "confinement pits."

One of the issues, the Insider found, is that typical verbal reprimands often work to discipline regular soldiers but not the tens of thousands of convicts who have been recruited to fill the gaps created by massive personnel losses.

"(Former) inmates are impossible to control," one officer told the Insider.

Standard military disciplinary measures include fines, extra duty, or to simply verbally rebuke a soldier.

"These methods work on professional servicemen, but a man from the street, especially a convicted murderer, doesn't care," the officer said.

The enhanced disciplinary measures can only increase in severity, based on often arbitrary reasons.  

In line with both Soviet and post-Soviet Russian military traditions, those who are at the end of their service or are performing punishment squad duties can keep away from more dangerous combat tasks.

Russia's use of human wave tactics that often result in heavy casualties only increases soldiers' desire to avoid being sent on what many think of suicide mission.

"No one would agree to participate in them willingly, so commanders have to resort to violence," the Insider wrote.

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Editor’s note: This story was sponsored by Common Sense Communications, a Ukrainian non-profit organization specializing in pro-democracy strategic communications. One of their ongoing projects is “Voices of Civilian Hostages,” which aims to attract the world’s attention to the issue of Russia’s ill…

The Kyiv IndependentDinara Khalilova