Putin Lets Commanders Jail Soldiers Over Smartphone Use on Front Line
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given military commanders new powers to send soldiers fighting in Ukraine to the military prison for using smartphones and other gadgets with cameras or internet access.
Putin signed a decree amending the country’s military disciplinary rules, removing the requirement for a court to approve such arrests. Until now, only garrison military courts could order soldiers detained for misconduct.
Under the new rules, commanders can impose disciplinary arrests themselves — but they must do so within two days of the completion of an investigation into the offense.
The Russian Defense Ministry pushed for the change last year, saying it’s hard to bring troops to distant courts without disrupting military operations. They argued that taking offenders to court wastes time and resources, especially on the front lines in Ukraine.
Guardhouses – military detention facilities – were abolished in Russia in 2002 after the country joined the European Convention on Human Rights. But they were reintroduced in 2007 for serious disciplinary violations, such as desertion, refusing to report for duty, or using alcohol and drugs.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has revived the use of field guardhouses, often called “basements” – hidden detention sites used to punish soldiers, especially conscripts and contract troops “without due process.”
Last year, Russia banned soldiers from using personal smartphones at the front, unless they were required for combat related duties.
Before then, videos filmed by soldiers exposed illegal arrests, abuse, and poor conditions among Russian troops — something the authorities have largely ignored.
In summer 2024, Russian milblogger Yegor Guzenko released footage from a basement in the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic,” where Russian troops accused of disobedience were being held. Many were severely wounded, some missing limbs.
“This is how [our soldiers] live, [expletive] in the Russian army. Those who are no longer needed are hidden from everyone in pigsties,” Guzenko said.
The Russian Telegram channel ASTRA has identified 16 such punishment basements.
In one case, ASTRA published a video from a basement in Rozsipne, in the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic,” where Russian soldiers refusing to fight in Ukraine were confined. The footage shows them sitting or sleeping on wooden planks or bare concrete, using flashlights for light and plastic bottles as makeshift toilets.
In another video, which exposed absolute human rights violations in the ranks of the Russian army, soldiers were being taken to combat missions in handcuffs.
The video first surfaced on a Russian Telegram channel dedicated to exposing problems within the Russian Armed Forces, according to the report. However, Russian propagandists quickly seized on it, falsely claiming it showed Ukrainian troops.
Kyiv Post reviewed the video and found that the men in the video are not wearing Ukrainian military uniforms and speak with Russian accents.
Kyiv Post’s investigation found that, on Jan. 26, the Russian Telegram channel Russia Against Mobilization originally posted the video with the caption: “Refugees from the 108th Airborne Assault Regiment are being taken to a combat mission in handcuffs.”
The footage later spread across TikTok, uploaded by a user named Zaliv_Rodnoy, with the caption: “We’re going to storm in handcuffs, damn it! Soldiers of the 155th brigade showed how they are taken to a combat mission, chained to each other so they can’t escape.”
The video sparked outrage among Ukrainian-speaking users, who mistakenly believed it showed Ukrainian soldiers. However, others pointed out that it was a Russian fake, and Zaliv_Rodnoy confirmed in the comments that the footage depicted Russian troops.
Source: Alisa Orlova