Russian soldiers report ‘torture pits’ used for ‘discipline’ at military training grounds
Russian military training grounds in the villages of Prudboy in the Volgograd region and Totsky in the Orenburg region contain “torture pits” that are used to “discipline” trainees, the investigative outlets iStories and Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) reported on Tuesday, citing soldiers who have undergone training at the facilities.
CIT learned of the existence of the “torture pit” in Prudboy from a former soldier who was sent there in June 2023. He said that several of his fellow servicemen were beaten by military police and then forced to spend time in the pits after they were caught getting drunk.
The amounts of time trainees were left in the pits ranged from several days to an entire week, according to the former soldier. He said the men were given food once a day and deprived of medical care. He also told CIT that one soldier died after spending time in a “torture pit,” but the outlet was unable to independently verify this claim.
In a satellite photo of the Prudboy training ground taken in early August 2023, journalists from CIT found two deep holes that match the former soldier’s description. The pits do not appear in photos taken of the same site in April.
“It can’t be said that these holes serve any economic purpose or that they’re a training site,” said an analyst from CIT.
A different former soldier, who underwent training in Totsky in the summer of 2023, told journalists that that facility also contains “torture pits.” According to him, agents wearing the patch of Chechnya’s Akhmat battalion were in charge of administering punishment:
They could just come into my company, see a drunk person, take him away, and beat him up. If someone systematically broke discipline rules, they would bring him to their floor, beat him, put him in handcuffs, and hold him there until he sobered up, came to his senses, and apologized. The most unruly guys, they told us, were just thrown into the pits after being beaten, then a cover was put over it, and that was it.
Journalists were able to use satellite photos to confirm that large pits did indeed appear at the Totsky training site but have not confirmed their purpose.
“With Totsky, it’s more complicated,” said an analyst from CIT. “In an image of one of the pits, you can see a trench branching off to the side, which suggests there’s an entrance to that pit. They’re dug differently, round in shape, with visible dirt around them. If people were constantly being brought there and put in the pits, or if food and water were being brought to people inside, the edges would look different.”