Russian soldiers tell BBC they saw fellow troops executed on commanders’ orders

Russian soldiers tell BBC they saw fellow troops executed on commanders’ orders

Testimonies reveal frontline horrors in Ukraine

Four Russian soldiers have shared harrowing accounts of their experiences on the battlefield in Ukraine, detailing how they observed comrades being executed by their own commanders. Two of them recounted witnessing soldiers shot on the spot for refusing orders, a practice described as a chilling form of punishment. The revelations come from the documentary The Zero Line: Inside Russia’s War, where soldiers describe the brutal conditions and psychological warfare they endured.

“I watched as they stood just a few meters apart… the sound of gunfire echoed,” said one soldier. “It was a normal thing,” added another, who described how his commander personally executed four men. “I knew them. One of them screamed, ‘Don’t shoot, I’ll do anything!’ but it didn’t matter.”

The term “zero” is a Russian military slang used to denote the act of executing soldiers who disobey orders. One participant in the documentary noted seeing 20 bodies of fellow troops lying in a pit, a grim testament to the scale of the violence. These executions were meant to instill fear and discourage resistance, with commanders using them as a tool to maintain control.

Ilya, a 35-year-old former teacher from Kungur in the Ural Mountains, was mobilized alongside 79 others in May 2024. He described how he was forced to count the dead, a role that exposed him to the brutality of the frontline. Refusing to go into battle, he was subjected to torture and even urinated on by his unit. Those who resisted were often electrocuted, starved, or sent into “meat storms”—attacks deemed suicide missions by soldiers.

According to Ilya, the command post became a site of terror. “Nearly everyone was drunk,” he recalled. “Forwards into battle! We’ll get Zelensky and raise our flag!” the men shouted as they were deployed. He witnessed four soldiers shot at point-blank range in Russian-occupied Donetsk, including one in Panteleimonivka and three in Novoazovsk. “The saddest thing is that I knew them,” he said, emphasizing the personal cost of the conflict.

Dima, a 34-year-old former repairman in Moscow, echoed similar experiences. He described how the war had turned his life upside down, with his family left behind as he was called to duty. “Of course they kill their own men,” he said, highlighting the normalization of such acts. The soldiers’ accounts suggest a breakdown of law and order, with commanders holding absolute power over their subordinates’ lives.

The BBC reports that these testimonies represent the first time frontline Russian soldiers have spoken openly about witnessing executions ordered by their leaders. Meanwhile, Moscow remains tight-lipped about casualties, though the UK’s Ministry of Defence estimates over 1.2 million Russian troops have been killed or injured since the full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022. The Russian government claims its forces “operate with utmost restraint,” but has yet to confirm the accuracy of the soldiers’ claims.

With almost all public dissent against the invasion silenced, the soldiers’ stories offer a rare glimpse into the human cost of the war. Their experiences underscore the harsh realities faced by those on the front lines, where obedience is enforced through fear and violence.