Russian soldiers tell BBC they saw fellow troops executed on commanders’ orders
Russian soldiers tell BBC they saw fellow troops executed on commanders’ orders
Four Russian soldiers have revealed the grim reality of life on the front lines in Ukraine, with two detailing how they witnessed comrades executed for defying orders. In a harrowing account, one man described watching a soldier shot by his commander, who was later honored as a “Hero of Russia” in 2024. “I see it—just two metres, three metres… click, clack, bang,” he recounted, capturing the chilling immediacy of the violence.
The Zero Line: Inside Russia’s War
In the documentary *The Zero Line: Inside Russia’s War*, soldiers share detailed stories of how they were tortured for refusing to participate in attacks they called suicide missions. These assaults, referred to as “meat storms,” involve relentless waves of troops advancing across the front line to overwhelm Ukrainian forces. For the first time, the BBC believes, Russian soldiers from the battlefield have described on record how commanders ordered executions of their own men.
One participant, whose role was to identify and count casualties, provided lists showing he is the sole survivor from a group of 79 men he was mobilized with. He described being subjected to physical abuse and forced into combat without weapons after refusing to go to the front. “I was watching them and thinking ‘How did I end up here?’ I was so scared,” he said.
“The saddest thing is that I knew them. I remember one of them screaming ‘Don’t shoot, I’ll do anything!’ but he [the commander] zeroed them anyway,” the soldier said.
The term “zero” refers to the practice of executing soldiers who refuse orders, often used to intimidate others into compliance. Another soldier from a different unit claimed to have seen his commander personally shoot four men. “I knew them,” he said, recalling one soldier’s desperate plea before being killed.
Conditions on the front line were described as brutal, with some soldiers forced to endure electrocution and starvation. The Russian government maintains that its forces “operate with utmost restraint,” treating personnel with care during high-intensity conflict. However, it admitted being unable to verify the accuracy of the testimonies provided by the soldiers.
Breaking the Silence
Almost all public dissent against President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has been suppressed in Russia. While official casualty numbers are withheld, the UK’s Ministry of Defence estimates over 1.2 million Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022. The four men, now in hiding, spoke from an undisclosed location outside Russia, offering a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the military.
Before the war, Ilya, the soldier who documented deaths, taught children with special needs in Kungur, a town in the Ural Mountains. He was mobilized in May 2024 alongside 78 others at a Perm recruitment center, where alcohol was widespread. “Forwards into battle! We’ll get Zelensky and raise our flag!” he remembers soldiers shouting. Despite his fear, Ilya was sent to the front, where he saw four men executed in separate locations, including Panteleimonivka and Novoazovsk in Russian-occupied Donetsk.
Dima, a 34-year-old who previously worked as a dishwasher repairman in Moscow, added that executions were common across units. “Of course they kill their own men, it’s a normal thing,” he said, reflecting the normalized brutality described by the soldiers. The testimonies confirm reports of a breakdown in discipline, with commanders deciding fates through the radio: “Zero this one, zero that one.”
