Russian military commanders reportedly tied a pair of soldiers accused of desertion and failing to follow orders to a tree and shoveled heaps of snow down their throats — all while berating them near the frontline.
The jarring video footage, obtained by East2West, shows two soldiers taped to trees in nothing but their underwear in the numbing cold.
Both men choked out apologies for their alleged disobedience — but one’s cries are muffled as a superior officer forces a clump of snow into his mouth.
“[They] wanted to f—k off from their positions, not follow orders,” one commander barks.
“Eat, you f—king b—h,” he snaps as the men continue to plead.
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen again,” one soldier, who was hanging upside down, croaked.
The men allegedly failed to reach a destination to which the commander ordered them, though it’s unclear where and why.
The Russian commander takes an extra jab and starts calling the men “f—ts” for their alleged rebellion.
The leaked footage of the inhumane punishments comes amid months-long peace talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine War.
Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that he would not pull back the troops unless Ukraine ceded part of its territory — the very land the Ukrainians have fought to retain through the entire war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected Putin’s demand.
“We have no right to give anything away — not under our laws, not under international law, not under moral law,” Zelensky told reporters in December. “Russia is, of course, insisting that we give up territory. We, of course, do not want to give up anything — that is precisely what we are fighting for, as you are well aware.”
War Archive, a channel in Ukraine, explained that the torture seen in the video is consistent with the Russian military’s “updated methods” used against those “who refused to take part in an assault.”
Nevzorov Telegram, another Ukrainian outlet, explained that Russian generals are continuing to press on even as soldiers start to drag and have resorted to inventing “new types of torture for their personnel.”
“Russia turns people into cattle, because only animals obey orders without saying a word. Orwell’s farmyard — this is Putin’s Russia,” Ukraine channel Butusov Plus said.
Russia launched more overnight strikes in Kharkiv and Odesa over the weekend, knocking out roughly 80% of Ukraine’s second city’s power, leaving many without heating as temperatures dip well into the negatives.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that crews are actively working “to eliminate all the negative consequences” that rose from the cowardly strike.
At least 44 people, including children and a pregnant woman, were injured in the dual attacks.
