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 shared harrowing accounts of the violence they encountered on the front lines in Ukraine, revealing instances where commanders ordered the execution of their own troops for defying orders. Two of these men described witnessing soldiers being shot instantly for refusing to carry out attacks they deemed suicidal.

“I saw it – just two metres, three metres… click, clack, bang,” one soldier recalled, detailing the chilling scenes of executions.

Among them, a man who identified and tallied the dead said he was the sole survivor from a group of 79 men he was conscripted with. He recounted how he and others were subjected to torture, including being urinated on, for refusing to advance into battle. Those who resisted were often forced into “meat storms”—relentless assaults designed to overwhelm Ukrainian forces.

“I knew them,” he said, describing the terror of watching comrades beg for their lives before being executed.

Another soldier, from a different unit, claimed his commander personally shot four men. “One of them screamed ‘Don’t shoot, I’ll do anything!'” he said, highlighting the psychological brutality faced by troops. The term “zero” is used by Russian soldiers to describe executions carried out by their own commanders, serving as both punishment and a tool to instill fear.

In the documentary “The Zero Line: Inside Russia’s War,” soldiers detailed how they were tormented for refusing to participate in attacks they called “suicide missions.” These incidents, according to the BBC, mark the first time Russian frontline troops have openly described witnessing commanders order executions.

Before the war, Ilya, a 35-year-old who taught children with special needs in Kungur, the Ural Mountains, had no experience with combat. In May 2024, police arrived at his parents’ home, summoning him for mobilization. He was sent to a recruitment center in Perm with 78 others, many of whom were already drunk when they were told to move forward into battle.

“I was watching them and thinking ‘How did I end up here?’ I was so scared,” Ilya recalled, reflecting on the chaos and pressure of deployment.

Their testimonies also underscore the grim reality of the front lines, where soldiers who fled the battlefront were executed. “Your fate depended on your commander,” Ilya said. “The commander is on the radio: ‘Zero this one, zero that one,'” illustrating the arbitrary nature of punishment.

Dima, a 34-year-old former dishwasher repairman in Moscow, echoed similar experiences. “Of course they kill their own men, it’s a normal thing,” he stated, showing how the practice of “zeroing” has become an accepted method of control. The Russian government, however, maintains that its forces “operate with utmost restraint” and “treat their personnel with maximum care,” while expressing doubts about the accuracy of the soldiers’ accounts.

Despite Moscow’s efforts to suppress dissent, the testimonies confirm reports of a breakdown in discipline and law on the front lines. 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 February 24, 2022.