Russian deserters facing brutal punishments in Ukraine

Harrowing videos from the front line in Ukraine show Russians being bound and beaten, forced to fight in pits and left to die.

Brutal punishments meted out to Russian deserters in the gruelling war with Ukraine are being shared in harrowing videos from the front lines.

Soldiers accused of abandoning their posts are tied to trees and left for dead, forced to fight fellow deserters in pits or dragged along behind cars by their comrades.

Some of the videos posted to social media sites such as Telegram and obtained by CNN show bound soldiers being viciously assaulted and urinated on.

These two men were told to fight each other, with just one allowed to emerge. Picture: Supplied

In one clip, a man’s voice can be heard as he opens a large metal storage tank holding three men stripped down to their underwear.

“Time to feed the animals! The ones who tried to f*** off,” he says.

“Let’s find out what they are doing.”

The man asks if the men were hungry: “Do you want a cookie?”

One of the captives nods and a biscuit is crumbled into his hands, which he eats.

Three men were seen cowering in a storage tank.

The man is given some crumbs to eat. Pictures: Telegram

Ukrainian soldiers report intercepting radio communications of enemy battalions describing the punishments as sacrifices to the witch Baba Yaga – who in Slavic folklore eats children.

“Any large Ukrainian drone they call Baba Yaga. It spreads terrible panic in these damaged people,” the commander, who goes by the call sign Munin, told CNN.

“For them, it’s some kind of scary myth that flies in and kills everyone.”

Tens of thousands of Russians are estimated to have deserted their army since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

Get Lost, which helps men desert or avoid conscription, says it has facilitated the escape of 1700 Russians.

A soldier bound to a tree with a bucket over his head.

“Their lives are not worth anything to their commanders,” founder Grigory Sverdlin said.

“For Russian officers, losing a tank, losing a vehicle, is much worse than losing, say, 10 or 20 people.

“We often hear from our clients that officers tell them they will all be dead in a week. The officer will get another unit, so it’s not a problem for them.”

US-based Institute for the Study of War cites apparently leaked data from Russia’s Defence Ministry that suggests as many as 50,000 men could have deserted so far.

Ukrainian servicemen fire an anti-aircraft twin autocannon towards a Russian drone during an air attack near Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk. Picture: Roman Pilipeu/AFP

Trump’s ultimatum to Putin

US President Donald Trump on Monday issued Moscow with a dramatic new deadline to end the war or face tough new sanctions, as he met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland.

Saying he was not very interested in talking to the Russian leader anymore, Mr Trump said he was “very disappointed” with Putin over continued strikes against Ukrainian civilian targets.

He announced that he was reducing an earlier 50-day deadline set on July 14 for Mr Putin to bring the Ukraine conflict to an end to “about 10 or 12 days”, starting immediately.

“There is no reason in waiting,” Mr Trump said, adding he thought Mr Putin would want to end things quickly.

“I really felt it was going to end. But every time I think it’s going to end he kills people.

“I’m not so interested in talking (to him) anymore.”

Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Trump’s comments. Picture: Ukranian Presidential Press Service/AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky swiftly praised the US leader’s stand, thanking Mr Trump for his “clear stance and expressed determination”.

“Right on time, when a lot can change through strength for real peace,” Mr Zelensky said on social media.

“I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war.”