Russian commanders are executing or deliberately sending to their deaths soldiers who refuse to fight in Ukraine, according to a new investigation by the independent outlet Verstka. The report, which draws on testimonies from serving soldiers, relatives of the dead, leaked videos and official complaint records, identifies 101 Russian servicemen accused of murdering, torturing or fatally punishing their own comrades. Verstka said it had verified at least 150 deaths, though the true tally is believed to be far higher.
The investigation documents a catalogue of methods used to enforce obedience, including the appointment of 'execution shooters' to open fire on refusers and dump their bodies in rivers or shallow graves. In several cases, commanders allegedly ordered drone operators to drop grenades on their own men, disguising the killings as battlefield strikes. Troops who disobeyed orders were reportedly thrown into pits, doused with water and beaten for hours, or forced to fight each other in gladiator-style battles to the death.
Verstka also linked several killings to financial extortion schemes, where commanders demanded payments from soldiers in exchange for avoiding suicide missions. Those who could not pay were 'zeroed' – army slang for being eliminated. The report describes cases of troops being deliberately deployed as 'mayachki', or beacons, ordered to walk ahead of assault groups without equipment to draw enemy fire.
Initially, most reports of internal executions came from penal formations made up of ex-convicts, but Verstka's database shows the practice has spread to regular army units. Most of the identified perpetrators are mid-ranking officers in their 30s and 40s, many of them veterans of earlier Russian campaigns. Despite extensive evidence, almost none have faced prosecution.
Verstka said it had obtained official data showing that Russia's main military prosecutor's office received nearly 29,000 complaints from soldiers and families in the first half of 2025 alone, more than 12,000 of which related to punishment by their own superiors. A source in the prosecutor's office told the outlet there was an informal ban on investigating cases against commanders serving in combat zones.
