Satellite Photos Appear to Show Russia's 'Torture Pits' for Unruly Troops

New satellite photos appear to show torture pits constructed by the Russian military at its training grounds for Moscow's most unruly troops.

The structures were constructed at Russian training grounds in the villages of Prudboy in the Volgograd region and Totsky in the Orenburg region, according to the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an investigative group that analyzes armed conflicts, and Important Stories, an investigative Russian publication.

The publication cited Russian soldiers who have trained at the military grounds.

A former Russian soldier identified as "Sergei" told CIT in June that he learned that "torture pits" had been set up in Prudboy's military ground, and several fellow troops were sent there to spend time after they were caught intoxicated or taking drugs.

Sergei said he attempted multiple times to leave the military and refuse to fight in Ukraine, but he was met with threats from leadership. Commanders reportedly threatened that he would be beaten by military police and that he would be put in a "pit" without food and water.

Several of his fellow unruly servicemen were kept in the pits for several days to a week, with food brought to them once a day. They were denied medical care, and one person died on the grounds after being detained in the pit, he said.

"The people who returned from there no longer messed around, they were afraid of everything," Sergei said.

Important Stories and CIT noted that they could not confirm the soldier's claims that someone had died on the grounds.

Satellite images dated in August show two deep "pits" in the ground not far from a tent camp, matching Sergei's claims. The pits weren't visible in satellite images dated in April, suggesting they were dug between April and August this year.

Newsweek has been unable to verify the specific claims, and contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment.

Another former Russian soldier, identified as Viktor, described the existence of the same "torture" pits in Totsky. Satellite images show what appears to be pits in the ground at the military grounds.

"They could just walk into my unit, see a drunk [soldier], then they would take him away and beat him. Those who systematically violated discipline were taken to their floor, beaten, handcuffed and held until they sobered up, came to their senses, and apologized," Viktor said.

"The most violent ones, according to [their] stories, after beating, were thrown into holes in the street, covered with a lid, and that's it," Viktor said.

In July, a video posted to social media Monday reportedly showed Russian troops saying they were locked in a pit by a commanding officer for refusing to fight on Ukraine's front lines.

"We've been locked in this pit for refusing to go the zero line. [We have] sat here for two days," one of the soldiers in the clip said. "Zero line" is a term that Russians frequently use for a battlefield's front lines.

WarTranslated, an independent media project that translates materials about the war into English, shared the video on X, formerly known as Twitter. In the clip, which couldn't be independently verified by Newsweek, another one of the eight soldiers filmed in what appeared to be an underground dwelling in an undisclosed location said they had been serving in the war for nine months without being given leave time.

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