Russian military commanders are employing tough methods to deal with problems in the ranks amid the war in Ukraine. Punishment includes forcing offending personnel into little more than holes.
The holes, or zindans, are cells dug into the ground and covered with a metal grate.
“Multiple recent reports from Russian personnel give similar accounts of being placed in zindans for misdemeanors, including drunkenness and attempting to terminate their contracts,” according to a British military intelligence analysis over the weekend.
Russian commanders took a relatively light touch in enforcing discipline in the early months of the war. That included allowing some who refused to fight to return home quietly, U.K. officials said on Twitter.
“They were sent to the front line with only their naked asses, so to speak, to fight tanks with only machine guns,” Alyona Savochkina, whose husband, Viktor, was among those sent to Ukraine, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty this year. “Basic kid, grenades. All of them. They had no reinforcements. Nothing.”
The Kremlin has been employing increasingly draconian initiatives to improve discipline since August. Punishment has become even more severe since Gen. Valery Gerasimov assumed direct responsibility for the fighting in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law in September that stiffened penalties for desertion in wartime. Violators could face up to 10 years in prison, while conscientious objectors risk up to three years behind bars. The law also punishes “voluntary” surrender, with incarceration of up to 15 years.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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