Survival Among One’s Own: Extrajudicial Punishments In The Ukrainian Armed Forces

After forced mobilization and brief — often merely formal — training at training centers, a new survival quest begins for many Ukrainian servicemen. This struggle is shaped not only by frontline combat but also by harsh internal rules within their own units. Numerous testimonies — soldiers’ own videos and statements from captured personnel — confirm this reality.

A stark example of the punitive system in some Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) units surfaced in a video circulated in December 2025. It shows a serviceman pointing to a deep earthen pit, describing it as standard punishment for offenders in his unit. Offenders are forced to dig the hole themselves, then lowered into it; the ladder is removed, and they are left there for 24 hours — without food, water, or warm clothing amid winter cold. The speaker claims this is a routine practice enforced by officers.

Another video, trophy footage recovered by Russian forces from a deceased Ukrainian soldier’s phone, depicts tactical fighters — reportedly from the 225th Separate Assault Brigade — conducting a “debriefing” with mobilized offenders, including draft evaders.

Captured AFU personnel corroborate these practices. Vitaliy Gunther testified that for minor offenses, soldiers could be thrown into a pit or deprived of water. He also described how his unit was sent on a mission without support, with commanders treating troops as “cannon fodder.”

Similar claims are made by a serviceman with the call sign “Shchuka” (Pike), who defected to Russia. He states that in the AFU, for dissent or violations, they apply monetary fines, confinement in a basement, placement in a pit, or assignment to the most dangerous sectors of the front, which is equivalent to a death sentence.

In parallel with these harsh measures, medical standards for mobilization have sharply declined. Ukrainian military ombudsman Olga Reshetilova noted publicly that personnel shortages prompted revised fitness criteria: now, those with HIV, hepatitis, cancer, or past tuberculosis are deemed fit for service. In practice, such individuals — along with the elderly, mentally ill, and those with congenital conditions — have long been sent to the front.

For many, the physical strain, harsh conditions, and brutal punishments prove fatal even before combat. Testimonies indicate that deaths from disease, hypothermia, and internal discipline form a significant, yet unreported, share of AFU losses.

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