Russia operates a network of at least 23 detention sites where wounded soldiers and deserters are starved and tortured. Those who survive are sent back to the front. Independent Russian journalist Anna Snegireva researched these camps, which are often situated in abandoned buildings in Russian-occupied Ukraine. The horrendous circumstances show that the Russian repression devours its own people.

Note: This story contains explicit descriptions of torture and other violence.

The abandoned Petrovskaya coal mine (number 4-21) on the outskirts of Russian-occupied Donetsk in June 2022. Screenshot from Google Earth. According to ASTRA sources, the command of the 5th and 110th brigades organized a 'concentration camp' for its own soldiers in the basements of the building.

'Here are the soldiers, all with sticks, wounded — some in the arms, some in the legs. I'm deaf, also with a stick. We're all being sent to the war today.'

This is how a video appeal by soldiers from Russia's 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade begins. It was published by the independent Russian media outlet ASTRA in February 2025. The footage shows wounded men on crutches standing in a semi-basement room. One man says he’s deaf, others can barely stand. Their fate remains unknown.

Footage like this is not uncommon. Severely injured soldiers — on crutches, with bandaged limbs — frequently record desperate pleas for evacuation. Often, these appeals only worsen their situation. In another clip released in May, soldiers said they were being held in a basement and forced to prepare for another deadly assault.

'Our guys are being sent to die. Survivors are just left to rot,' said Anna Uvarova, the widow of a fallen soldier who published one such video. She later became the target of a smear campaign, and the soldiers shown were reportedly coerced into filming a retraction.

But this is only the beginning. ASTRA has uncovered what appears to be a vast, organized system of underground detention and torture sites used against injured or refusing soldiers. At least 23 such places have been identified — basements, abandoned buildings, and former coal mines where men are starved, beaten, and forced to return to the front barely alive. 

Underground torture center

Among the 23 sites identified by ASTRA, one stands out: the abandoned Petrovskaya coal mine on the outskirts of Russian-occupied Donetsk. Archived Yandex street views from 2010 show children cycling nearby under a summer sun. Coal production had already declined by then, and in 2014 the mine closed down completely due to the war. Today, only a spoil heap remains.

The Petrovskaya coal mine in 2009. Photo: Andrew Butko, Wikimedia Commons

According to ASTRA, the 5th and 110th brigades converted the site into a makeshift 'concentration camp.' Soldiers are brought in with bags over their heads, denied identification or communication. They’re locked in underground rooms and left without food for days. Plastic bags serve as toilets.

Men are starved, beaten, and forced to return to the front barely alive

'When I was locked up, they hung us from the ceiling by chains tied to our hands and feet,' said one former detainee.

Daniil, a former platoon commander, added: 'They killed nearly all my guys there. One was stabbed, another shot in the face. Killing is just routine here in Donetsk. My ex went to the military prosecutor's office about it, and they told her: "If you want to live, shut your mouth."'

The goal, sources say, is to break soldiers and force them into assaults. Some are offered the chance to pay for a medical evacuation. The rest are returned to the battlefield half-dead. Torture is part of the military’s disciplinary system.

The death of 'Texas'

The Petrovskaya mine gained wider attention after the death of American volunteer and pro-Russian war correspondent Russell Bentley — also known as 'Texas.'

Russell Bentley, also known as 'Texas.' Photo: donbasstexac / VK

Russell Bentley, an American citizen who arrived in Donbas in 2014, was a vocal supporter of the separatists, a pro-Kremlin propagandist, and eventually became a naturalized Russian citizen. On April 8, 2024, he was detained by the 5th brigade — the same unit that operates the Petrovskaya mine. He was tortured there, including with electric shocks. His body was allegedly placed in a vehicle which was subsequently blown up to cover up the murder.

'A 64-year-old heart couldn't survive the torture,' said one acquaintance of Bentley.

Four servicemen were arrested in connection with his killing. His body has not been returned to his wife, and the case remains sealed from the public.

'Our own are worse than the enemy'

Vladimir Frolov, a 29-year-old disabled man and guitar teacher from the occupied Donetsk region, was also held and tortured in the 5th brigade's basement. Mobilized illegally in 2022, Frolov never signed a contract or took an oath, according to his relatives.

In April 2024, despite finally receiving an order for medical evaluation, he was instead sent directly into an assault near Krasnohorivka, where he died.

'They kept him in a pit, then in the basement. As soon as they found out he needed treatment, they threw him into an assault. He died slowly... our own people are worse than the enemy,' his family told ASTRA.

Frolov had attempted to flee the war twice.

Vladimir Frolov. Photo: Telegram channel 'astrapress'

Toilet breaks with a weight tied to your leg

Another torture site in occupied Makiivka came to light through testimonies from escapees. Soldiers from the 1st Slavic Brigade were held in a former mine equipment factory, with no access to water, electricity, or communication.

'To go to the toilet, they tied a huge weight to your leg so you wouldn’t escape,' said one ex-detainee, Ivan. 'We were fed only with canned meat. No bread, no porridge. We were sick of it.'

Soldiers were held for months, pressured to sign contracts and return to war. Escapees said they would have preferred to go to prison — but that choice was never given to them.

At least 21 other sites are believed to be operating or have operated across the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions. Inside Russia, only one such site has been documented so far — in the Nizhny Novgorod region. There, mostly mobilized soldiers were illegally detained and abused inside a ruined building on the grounds of the 47th Division's headquarters, established in 2022 for the 272nd Motorized Rifle Regiment. In what used to be a weapons storage room, military police kept soldiers locked up for days without food, water, or access to medical care. One detainee who had lost part of his leg remained trapped there. According to ASTRA’s source, wounded men were denied surgery or medical evaluation. Soldiers were beaten — some with police batons — and at least three suffered broken ribs. Rubber grenades were thrown at them 'as a joke.' Afterward, all were sent back to the front lines — an apparent attempt to cover up the abuse.

Screenshots from the video appeal by soldiers from Russia's 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade. One of them says: 'Here are the soldiers, all with sticks, wounded — some in the arms, some in the legs. I'm deaf, also with a stick. We're all being sent to the war today.' Source: Telegram channel 'astrapress'

Electric torture recorded on a phone

Even when soldiers disappear, sometimes their phones reveal what happened.

This was the case with a serviceman from the 123rd Brigade. After he went missing, his relatives examined his phone and found an audio recording of what appears to be an interrogation — with the sound of electric torture clearly audible.

The method used was a field telephone — typically employed on the front lines for secure communications. According to one soldier who served under the unit’s commander "Cap" (Alexei Korchagin of the 1st Motorized Rifle Battalion, 123rd Brigade, unit #40463), it was his voice on the tape.

'Two wires are attached to a person, and you crank the handle. They get 110 volts.'

This same technique was reportedly used on suspects after the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack.

In the phone, the soldier’s family also found Telegram messages in which he wrote, 'I'm with Cap and Zolotoy. Don't text me. They're torturing me.' He sent a short video message showing his head covered in blood.

On November 13, 2024, several dozen soldiers from unit #57849 in Novosibirsk staged a rebellion. Declaring they were 'tired of torture and injustice,' they smashed up their barracks and at least ten soldiers escaped. According to ASTRA, wounded servicemen in this unit were kept in inhumane conditions and sent 'beyond the line' instead of being treated or examined.

Mothers and wives: the only voice left

In August 2024, Vladimir Putin signed a law banning soldiers in the 'Special Military Operation' zone from using smartphones or devices with internet access and cameras. Violators could be punished with up to ten days of disciplinary arrest. The law also classified the publication of information that might reveal military affiliation as a serious disciplinary offense.

Commentators in pro-war Z-channels quickly pointed out that the ban wasn’t just about keeping military operations secret. It was also about silencing soldiers and preventing them from exposing illegal orders, abuse, and chaos at the front. The new law also gave commanders the power to imprison subordinates without trial for simply using a phone.

'What can I say? Idiots. This whole war runs on gadgets — everything is inside them,' said pro-war military blogger Vladimir Orlov.

When soldiers go missing, land in torture sites, or die without medical help, it’s their wives and mothers who speak for them. These women band together, track down fellow soldiers, record videos, write petitions, hire lawyers, and contact journalists. They carry no weapons, no rank — but they are the only ones challenging a system that erases their loved ones without a trace.

One of those to go public was Anna Uvarova, a military volunteer and widow. She posted a video of wounded soldiers from the 5th Brigade — on crutches — being sent back to the front.

Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov responded by calling the video a fake. He aired a supposed 'rebuttal' showing four of the soldiers in a hospital, claiming they had been forced to record the video under threat of being thrown into a storm unit.

'I know what posting this video will cost me, but I’m ready. You already took the most precious thing from me'

'I know what posting this video will cost me, but I’m ready,' Uvarova said in the video. 'You already took the most precious thing from me — you killed me two and a half years ago. But I’ll keep fighting for the boys... Our commanders send men to die. No one evacuates the wounded — they just lie there and rot. Even the ones on crutches, who can’t run — they’re sent to die. Mamai, I send you greetings — I want to meet you in person just to spit in your face. You’re sending them to the slaughter. Do you think people won’t rise up? The wives will tear you apart themselves. You hide behind them — but you should be the one leading.'

Anna Uvarova's video. Source: YouTube.

Alina Bolvinova, another soldier’s wife, faced similar backlash. She exposed how a drunk commander from the 25th Brigade sent men into a fatal assault. Solovyov again denied it, blaming Ukrainian psyops and ASTRA for spreading fakes to 'distract our brilliant commanders from destroying the Nazi scum.' He demanded ASTRA journalists be arrested and Bolvinova interrogated. She responded with another video.

Why soldiers refuse to fight

Soldiers refusing to fight is no longer rare — it has become a systemic problem for the Russian army. By May 2025, nearly 50,000 soldiers had been declared wanted for desertion or going AWOL (absent without official leave, ed.).

According to the human right defenders from the Russian initiative 'Get lost' (Idite Lesom), the reasons for men to desert are straightforward:

'Because they don’t want to die. No one went into this war by choice. This is a repressive system. They were tricked into contracts — not to go to Ukraine and spill their guts on foreign soil. That’s why they won’t fight. Their reasons don’t matter. What matters is how they were coerced. These aren’t free men. They’re debtors, convicts, or guys stuck in pre-trial detention. No one here is free, with rights or a steady salary. They’re slaves being traded. Buyers show up and say, "Give me 50 men." The officers hand them over. No one cares what those men think. That’s what a repressive system is.'

'These aren’t free men'

The ‘Get lost’ project, which helps Russian soldiers avoid being sent to war, regularly receives testimonies about illegal detention sites. According to them, these so-called “basements” aren’t just for deserters — they’re used to punish any 'inconvenient' soldier: those who are drunk, wounded, or simply disobedient.

'You don’t need to desert to end up in a basement. Ask for basic rights and you’ll be punished.'

There are two types of illegal prisons, they say: makeshift pits dug at military bases, where soldiers are beaten, chained, or soaked with cold water — and larger, more organized underground torture sites where men are subjected to electrocution, humiliation, and sometimes rape.

'Of course it’s illegal. These are torture centers. And everyone involved knows no one will be held accountable.'

Since September 2022, all military contracts signed with the Russian Ministry of Defense have become indefinite — including those that soldiers were pressured into signing or never saw at all.

'There’s no other option to escape the war. Only desertion. That’s the only way to survive once you’re in the system. You can complain to Putin all you want — no one will pull you out of a storm unit.'

Since 2022, 'Get lost' has helped 1,973 deserters, with around 800 managing to flee Russia.

Most reach out while still in Ukraine. The group provides escape plans: either hide inside Russia or leave before they’re detained.

'99% of them don’t have passports or visas. They can only get to Armenia or Kazakhstan. Getting a passport is a nightmare. That’s why Europe needs a real system — to help these deserters the same way it helps asylum seekers. France is already stepping up. If other countries are also willing to accept them, that would be a huge step forward — but again, it’s primarily a question of bureaucracy.'

As of now, at least 23 unofficial military prisons have been identified. How many more remain undiscovered — and how many men are still locked inside — is a question the Russian authorities refuse to answer.

The author contributed to the original investigations cited throughout this article.