Russian commanders accused of killing their own soldiers

Wednesday 31 December 2025 - 14:50

By: Dakir Madiha

Russian commanders accused of killing their own soldiers

A New York Times investigation published on December 31 uncovers a pattern of severe abuse within the Russian military, where commanders systematically mistreat, extort, and even orchestrate the deaths of their troops to sustain frontline numbers in Ukraine. Drawing from over 6,000 confidential complaints accidentally exposed by Russia's human rights ombudsman, the report provides a stark glimpse into a military apparatus willing to brutalize its own ranks to prop up Vladimir Putin's nearly four-year war.

The complaints, filed with Tatyana Moskalkova between April and September, surfaced due to an error in her office and were gathered by Kurnavov, founder of a Berlin-based Russian media outlet. The Times verified the documents by reaching out to more than 240 complainants, with 75 confirming their submissions and several supplying supporting evidence like videos, photos, and medical records.

The probe details a chilling practice known as "resetting," where commanders threaten or arrange soldiers' deaths either by dispatching them on suicidal missions without weapons or protective gear, or through direct battlefield executions. This term features in at least 44 reviewed complaints, with over 100 citing explicit death threats from superiors.

In one harrowing case, 18-year-old Said Murtazaliyev recorded a video revealing how, on his commander's orders, he collected around $15,000 in bribes from soldiers desperate to dodge a deadly assault. The commander then sent Murtazaliyev into the fray himself. Missing since October 7, when he warned his mother of being "reset," his family was told authorities cannot probe commanders for murder without a body and that he was likely obliterated, with remains devoured by wild animals.

A joint complaint from ten mothers accused commanders of military unit 36994, based near Nizhny Novgorod, of killing over 300 of their own soldiers on Ukrainian battlefields. To conceal evidence, executed bodies were buried in remote areas or blown apart by anti-tank mines, leaving scant traces.

Extortion runs rampant through the complaints, with troops coerced into payoffs for leave, unit transfers, or exemptions from high-casualty assaults labeled "cannon fodder" duties. Some commanders pocketed bribes for safety promises, only to deploy the soldiers anyway.

Documents also expose soldiers thrust into combat despite dire health issues, including fractures, advanced cancers, epilepsy, severe vision and hearing loss, traumatic brain injuries, schizophrenia, and stroke complications. In at least 95 cases reviewed by the Times, recently freed prisoners of war were returned to active duty often the day after release.

Lyubov, filing over her son's treatment, captured the grim reality: "I understand war is war, but this is a different kind of war." Her injured son, awaiting care, was dragged from the street and sent back to fight for a third time. Separately, soldier Ilya Govva filmed himself and a comrade handcuffed to a tree for days without food, water, or sanitation near Kreminna in Ukraine, crediting his release to a relative's security ties. He witnessed wheelchair-bound troops dispatched to the frontlines.

These disclosures come amid Russia's mounting Ukraine losses. Verified Russian military deaths have climbed to at least 152,142 since the full-scale invasion, per a late-November tally by BBC Russian and Mediazona. Western intelligence estimates total casualties near 1 million, including up to 250,000 fatalities. Russian courts now handle about 500 missing soldier cases daily, with nearly 90,000 petitions filed since mid-2024 to declare troops dead or missing. The Kremlin, Moskalkova's office, and Russia's Defense Ministry offered no response to the Times' repeated comment requests.