Ukraine war
Russian soldiers: Kremlin uses commandos to prevent retreats – by shooting if necessary
Two soldiers from Gruppe Wagner in the Ukraine. Allegations are being raised again that the Russian military has set up so-called “blocking troops” behind the front lines to prevent retreats (symbolic image).
© SNA / Imago Images
There are reports like the advance of the Red Army in World War II: In the Ukraine war too, Russia apparently used special units to prevent the retreat of its front-line troops – if necessary by shooting them.
Several Russian front-line soldiers from recently established units report conditions that were actually only known from the Red Army in World War II: Apparently the Kremlin uses specific commands at the front to stop deserters and prevent a retreat of the Russian troops – if necessary with them Armed force.
A video shows almost two dozen soldiers in green uniforms addressing a message directly to President Vladimir Putin. They are the remnants of an assault force – special forces set up by the Russian Defense Ministry in January “specifically designed to breach the most complex and highly echeloned defense sectors of the Ukrainian armed forces,” as it was said at the time.
Ukraine: Kremlin apparently deploys “barrier troops” to shoot deserters if necessary
But apparently these specially trained offensive troops have become suicide missions. According to the statements of the soldiers, their unit originally consisted of 161 men. After 14 days under heavy mortar and artillery fire, they “suffered great casualties,” as one of the soldiers, Alexander Gorin, explained. “34 people were injured and 22 died, including our commander,” Gorin continued.
The force wanted to withdraw and report back to their headquarters. But their superiors refused them an orderly retreat. The Russian army is apparently resorting to a tactic used by the Red Army during World War II: so-called “blocking troops”, which are positioned behind the first front line and are intended to prevent units from retreating or deserting.
“Strafniki” as a model: The Red Army also shot its own soldiers in World War II
In the Soviet Army, these units, known as “Strafniki”, were considered particularly notorious. They often consisted of criminals, the politically persecuted or soldiers with disciplinary penalties. Their task was basically just following Joseph Stalin’s order 227: “Not a step back”. Accordingly, the task of the “Strafniki” in the event of a “disorderly retreat was to shoot every fugitive and every coward and thus to assist the honest fighter in the defense of his homeland,” as Stalin put it.
Now the Kremlin under Vladimir Putin is apparently deploying similar troops, as the soldiers report in the video: “They have deployed blocking troops behind us and are not letting us move from our position… They are threatening to destroy us individually and as a unit. They want execute us as witnesses to a totally negligent criminal leadership.”
Their commanders are a criminal organization, there is no other way to put it, said another soldier, who identified himself as Sergei Moldanov.
Accordingly, the superiors would not only threaten their troops with shooting, but also blackmail their troops. Stormtroopers would be forced to pay their commanders money. Those who refused would be sent to the front.
These statements cannot be unequivocally proven. Both the star as well as the British “Guardian” were able to confirm the identity of several soldiers independently of each other. These also agree with reports from the British Ministry of Defense, which said in January that the Russian stormtroopers consisted largely of veterans who had already taken part in the first Russian offensive in Ukraine in 2014.
Russian soldiers keep complaining about poor treatment
The video is the latest in a string of complaints that have surfaced on social media, particularly since Russia’s winter offensive, which began in January. Desperate front-line soldiers who suffered from poor equipment and poor treatment by their superiors repeatedly speak out.
invasion by Russia
Shocking, disturbing and infinitely sad: pictures from a year of war in Ukraine
The accusation of the so-called “barrier troops” is not the first. The British Ministry of Defense announced last November that the Russian military wanted to use such special units to prevent its troops from retreating. “The tactic of shooting deserters probably reflects the poor quality, low morale and indiscipline of the Russian armed forces,” the ministry said in a statement at the time.
Kremlin chief Putin contradicted the reports in a speech in December. Although there are a few deserters, this is not a mass phenomenon in the Russian army. It is much more the Ukraine that is “shooting in the back” its own soldiers with troops behind the front, Putin continued to claim. He did not give any evidence for this.
Sources: The Guardians, Video Russian soldiers, Order of Stalin in the Russian original