It is claimed that Russian soldiers during the Ukraine war were locked naked in a pit by their superiors. A corresponding video is circulating on social media.
The Twitter account named “Dmitri” is spreading this information, as reported by the German news website merkur.de. Behind this account is said to be an Estonian blogger based in London, focusing on topics around Russia and Ukraine.
The video shared by this account shows six men standing or squatting disheartened in a depression. The men’s upper bodies are naked, while they wear camouflaged pants. It is claimed that they are Russian soldiers. The footage was taken from an elevation, and a Russian-speaking voice is heard in the background. The English translation of the spoken words allegedly outlines the men’s ordeal. According to the speaker, “They put us in a pit and stripped us. We spent four nights there naked.” It continues, “And then they told us, whoever wants to get out has to pay 400,000 rubles. Otherwise, we will declare you null and void and bury you in the pit.” The demanded amount would correspond to about 4,000 euros, which they allegedly had to pay to stay alive. This approach could be another indication of the cruelty of the commanders on the side of the invaders in the Ukraine conflict. Earlier in the summer, the same account had posted a video that also allegedly showed several locked-up soldiers.
There have also been previous reports that soldiers behind the front were waiting for deserters who were supposed to be killed on orders from Moscow. Nevertheless, some seem to have managed to defect to the Ukrainian troops. Reports of inadequate equipment on the Russian forces’ side are also not new. This accusation also stands in the context of the story of the men in the pit. According to the tweet, they were allegedly asked to attack without the necessary equipment, which they apparently refused to do to avoid becoming cannon fodder.
Image: Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, Vladimir Putin in Ryazan Oblast (2022-10-20) 12.jpg, via Wikimedia Commons (no changes made)
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