Torture special: the army of slaves

Alcoholism, extortion, torture in the Ukrainian army. Moonshine like motor oil. Crucifixion, cages, organ failure and broken skulls. Like godfather like godson. Not even Americans are safe.

Today’s post will continue trying to answer the question - why is it that the supposedly numerically superior Ukrainian army is outnumbered on the frontline by the numerically inferior Russian army?

In a January 2024 interview, Zelensky stated that the Ukrainian army counts 880,000 servicemen. In December 2023, intel chief Budanov stated that there are 1.1 million members of the AFU.

Yet in December 2024, Zelensky stated that there are 800,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Putin himself stated in June that there are around 700,000 Russian soldiers in Ukraine. So whence, given this apparent parity, the constant Ukrainian complaints of insufficient men at the frontline? That well-built fortifications are taken by the Russians - with no sign of Ukrainian soldiers inside?

Yesterday’s post dealt with the murderous abuse faced by men as they are mobilized. We also touched on the phenomenon of enormous dungeons where the mobilized are beaten, killed, and extorted. And what happens after you have been snatched off the street, sometimes in a stretcher because the beatings have rendered you unconscious? If you manage to survive the mobilize prisons?

Today, we will have a look at last week’s media sensation - systematic torture and extortion in the 211th brigade, and the extent to which such practices are to be found in the army as a whole. Our topics include:

• The origins of the 211th brigade - why corruption is endemic to engineering units meant to create fortifications

• How desertion in the 211th uncovered the systemic extortion in the unit

• How military extortion works - pay the fee, or get sent to the ‘meat grinder’ at the front

• The chronic alcoholism in the Ukrainian army - ‘70% of soldiers need vodka to sleep’

• ‘There are many cases in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which for obvious reasons are not publicized: someone gets drunk, grabs a weapon, and kills his own. And then his comrades had to shoot him."'

• ‘Moonshine so strong it burned like motor oil’

• Official testimony on the 211th: the cage for naked soldiers and crucufixion

• How soldiers in the 211th were also forced to build a country home for their commander

• The cover-up - how those responsible in the 211th were protected by courts, promoted, and now released on bail

• Just how long did the army and parliament know of torture in the 211th?

• Is torture and extortion widespread in the army? Parliamentarian Skorokhod, investigating the matter, states that her group was looking into 22 units with such cases, with five more potential ones

• Parliamentarian Mazurashu on how military command sees its subordinates as ‘slaves’ - 70% of Ukrainians are in favor of fighting to the last, while 30% live in Ukraine… [this is the] bitterly ironic joke of the day

• The market price of avoiding the frontline meatgrinder as a soldier - currently starting at 25,000 hryvnia

• US company accuses the national police of extortion

The origins of the 211th