4 ms·

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

98 points by breve 8mo ago

mitchbob 8mo ago
https://archive.ph/2026.02.24-070325/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7gw3l395ro https://archive.ph/2026.02.24-070325/https://www.bbc.com/new...
pjmlp 8mo ago
Unfortunately some things never change in war crimes, see Stalingrad.
jjtheblunt 8mo ago
i wonder, had Prigoshin and his Wagner group marched all the way to the Kremlin, how things would have changed. I also wonder how he didn't expect to be murdered in some insidious fashion, since mobsters are gonna mobster.
- jjtheblunt 8mo ago
  Having read the entire article, I also wonder how the soldiers let commanders execute fellow soldiers? That's got to take some serious psychological breakdown to not pull a sidearm and shoot the corrupt commander.
  - Nextgrid 8mo ago
    > not pull a sidearm and shoot the corrupt commander Wouldn't you just get "zeroed" by the upstream commander or court-martialed and sentenced to a gulag?
  - cheeseomlit 8mo ago
    What would be your next move after shooting your commanding officer? You're a dead man yourself after that. Possibly even shot by your fellow soldiers who did drink the kool-aid. And your family back home would probably face consequences as well. I wondered the same thing when reading about WW1 where soldiers were ordered to charge at enemy trenches and they'd predictably get mowed down immediately, then the officer would send the next group out. I can't help but think 'just shoot him', but it's a lot different actually being in that situation vs. reading about it
    - expedition32 8mo ago
      Humans are social animals- in prehistoric times that meant charging an angry mammoth together in the 21st century it means charging a machine gun nest. Can't fight your programming.
      - deleted 8mo ago
        [deleted]
  - estimator7292 8mo ago
    Fear of being executed, probably. Russia has not historically been friendly to whistle blowing.
    - IAmBroom 8mo ago
      The US would execute such a soldier... after a long, drawn-out appeals process lasting years. And a decade later some journalist might find damning evidence that the soldier was justified.
      - jjtheblunt 8mo ago
        Are there examples where the US did such? I went looking after your comment landed, and didn't find current examples.
  - yetihehe 8mo ago
    From other articles I've read: the commanders have their own bodyguards and soldiers get their weapons only when actually sent to front. Also, there are castes of soldiers. Those who are cannon-fodder are sometimes even brought in handcuffs (there are even videos of this).
- cedws 8mo ago
  I’ve always wondered what made him turn around. Threatened his family? Was Prigozhin a family man?
  - tartuffe78 8mo ago
    Probably just realized he didn't want/couldn't lead a military dictatorship, which probably would've been his only option at that point.
    - squidbeak 8mo ago
      If Wagner's rapturous welcome in Rostov was typical elsewhere, he wouldn't have needed to run a military dictatorship. He seemed to lose his nerve after his call with Lukashenko. It's tough to imagine it being anything other than a threat to his family, in which case it was a schoolboy error to fail to secure them before launching the rebellion.
      - whattheheckheck 8mo ago
        And then still gets blown up in a helicopter
technate4eva 8mo ago
Executed with shovels and washing machines, I bet!
- general1465 8mo ago
  Usually executions are done indirectly by sending soldiers into meat wave assaults on well defended position.
  - technate4eva 8mo ago
    Ah yes! Meatwaves armed with shovels, washing machines and refrigerators. Thanks for the "info"!
    - general1465 8mo ago
      Russians are calling it themselves meat wave assaults.
dpc_01234 8mo ago
No idea what happened, but you'd be a fool to believe anything BBC says.
- Ancalagon 8mo ago
  why?
  - hagbard_c 8mo ago
    Because the BBC has been shown to be heavily biased towards the 'metropolitan' and 'liberal' sides - where London goes, so does the BBC. Trusting the BBC on its word is just as unwise as trusting e.g. NPR/PBS or CNN/MSNBC/FOX (USA), ARD/ZDF/NDR (Germany), NOS (Netherlands) or SVT/SR (Sweden). In short, trusting any of the media - whether legacy or new - on their word is unwise, verification is needed. Unfortunately it is getting harder to trust verification videos as well since the advent of generative AV-models. If this is commonplace as the BBC claims it should be possible for other outlets to find more soldiers - in Ukraine or in Russia - who are willing to share these stories. If only Russia had independent media - https://novayagazeta.ru/ https://novayagazeta.ru/ claims to be independent, maybe it is and maybe it is not but I find it hard to believe that an organisation which is housed at 101000, Moscow, Potapovsky lane, 3, building 1 (address taken from the footer of their page) can remain independent for long - it would be something for Russian media to pick up.
aaron695 8mo ago
[dead]

98 points by breve 8mo ago

https://archive.ph/2026.02.24-070325/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7gw3l395ro https://archive.ph/2026.02.24-070325/https://www.bbc.com/new...

pjmlp 8mo ago

Unfortunately some things never change in war crimes, see Stalingrad.

jjtheblunt 8mo ago

i wonder, had Prigoshin and his Wagner group marched all the way to the Kremlin, how things would have changed. I also wonder how he didn't expect to be murdered in some insidious fashion, since mobsters are gonna mobster.

jjtheblunt 8mo ago
Having read the entire article, I also wonder how the soldiers let commanders execute fellow soldiers? That's got to take some serious psychological breakdown to not pull a sidearm and shoot the corrupt commander.
- Nextgrid 8mo ago
  > not pull a sidearm and shoot the corrupt commander Wouldn't you just get "zeroed" by the upstream commander or court-martialed and sentenced to a gulag?
- cheeseomlit 8mo ago
  What would be your next move after shooting your commanding officer? You're a dead man yourself after that. Possibly even shot by your fellow soldiers who did drink the kool-aid. And your family back home would probably face consequences as well. I wondered the same thing when reading about WW1 where soldiers were ordered to charge at enemy trenches and they'd predictably get mowed down immediately, then the officer would send the next group out. I can't help but think 'just shoot him', but it's a lot different actually being in that situation vs. reading about it
  - expedition32 8mo ago
    Humans are social animals- in prehistoric times that meant charging an angry mammoth together in the 21st century it means charging a machine gun nest. Can't fight your programming.
    - deleted 8mo ago
      [deleted]
- estimator7292 8mo ago
  Fear of being executed, probably. Russia has not historically been friendly to whistle blowing.
  - IAmBroom 8mo ago
    The US would execute such a soldier... after a long, drawn-out appeals process lasting years. And a decade later some journalist might find damning evidence that the soldier was justified.
    - jjtheblunt 8mo ago
      Are there examples where the US did such? I went looking after your comment landed, and didn't find current examples.
- yetihehe 8mo ago
  From other articles I've read: the commanders have their own bodyguards and soldiers get their weapons only when actually sent to front. Also, there are castes of soldiers. Those who are cannon-fodder are sometimes even brought in handcuffs (there are even videos of this).
cedws 8mo ago
I’ve always wondered what made him turn around. Threatened his family? Was Prigozhin a family man?
- tartuffe78 8mo ago
  Probably just realized he didn't want/couldn't lead a military dictatorship, which probably would've been his only option at that point.
  - squidbeak 8mo ago
    If Wagner's rapturous welcome in Rostov was typical elsewhere, he wouldn't have needed to run a military dictatorship. He seemed to lose his nerve after his call with Lukashenko. It's tough to imagine it being anything other than a threat to his family, in which case it was a schoolboy error to fail to secure them before launching the rebellion.
    - whattheheckheck 8mo ago
      And then still gets blown up in a helicopter

technate4eva 8mo ago

Executed with shovels and washing machines, I bet!

general1465 8mo ago
Usually executions are done indirectly by sending soldiers into meat wave assaults on well defended position.
- technate4eva 8mo ago
  Ah yes! Meatwaves armed with shovels, washing machines and refrigerators. Thanks for the "info"!
  - general1465 8mo ago
    Russians are calling it themselves meat wave assaults.

dpc_01234 8mo ago

No idea what happened, but you'd be a fool to believe anything BBC says.

Ancalagon 8mo ago
why?
- hagbard_c 8mo ago
  Because the BBC has been shown to be heavily biased towards the 'metropolitan' and 'liberal' sides - where London goes, so does the BBC. Trusting the BBC on its word is just as unwise as trusting e.g. NPR/PBS or CNN/MSNBC/FOX (USA), ARD/ZDF/NDR (Germany), NOS (Netherlands) or SVT/SR (Sweden). In short, trusting any of the media - whether legacy or new - on their word is unwise, verification is needed. Unfortunately it is getting harder to trust verification videos as well since the advent of generative AV-models. If this is commonplace as the BBC claims it should be possible for other outlets to find more soldiers - in Ukraine or in Russia - who are willing to share these stories. If only Russia had independent media - https://novayagazeta.ru/ https://novayagazeta.ru/ claims to be independent, maybe it is and maybe it is not but I find it hard to believe that an organisation which is housed at 101000, Moscow, Potapovsky lane, 3, building 1 (address taken from the footer of their page) can remain independent for long - it would be something for Russian media to pick up.

aaron695 8mo ago

[dead]