There is no end to the horrific atrocities being committed by Russian soldiers or their surrogates in Ukraine. Nor is there any end to the apologists who continue to excuse away Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” blindly.
However, war crimes must not be overlooked. That includes a gruesome video that recently surfaced apparently showing a Ukrainian prisoner of war being brutally castrated by soldiers from a Chechen unit, then allegedly being left to bleed to death. This is who the Russians are as a fighting force. This isn’t a professional army; this is more a pickup game of criminals recruited from prisons in exchange for clemency, mercenaries, and the Wagner Group.
Videotaping the incident and posting it on social media was likely purposeful Russian propaganda despite the risk it might be used at a future war crimes tribunal.
The Russian Army has bombed hospitals and schools, randomly shot Ukrainian civilians on the street, and tortured and executed civilians and soldiers. The Federal Security Service, acting more like Stalin’s NKVD, is rounding up political opponents, journalists, and family members of exiles and imprisoning them in Moscow’s Lefortovo Prison. It is then torturing and executing them.
Another atrocity occurred over the weekend when an explosion at Correctional Colony No. 120, a prison camp in the Russian-occupied eastern region of Donetsk, killed at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war and wounded 130. The prison camp is believed to house prisoners from the Azovstal iron and steel works plant in Mariupol. These are the same warriors — heroes — who fought off Russian advances for nearly three months. They were the David Crocketts, William B. Travises, and James Bowies of the Ukrainian Alamo. It’s difficult not to come to the conclusion that they were not singled out by their Russian captors to send a message to their Ukrainian counterparts — resistance is futile, we will eventually capture and kill you. That message, though, tends to have the opposite effect. “Remember the Correctional Colony No. 120” is likely to become a Ukrainian rallying cry.
If this war is allowed to transition into a “forever war” or “frozen conflict,” atrocities such as these will undoubtedly continue.
The intentional bombing of civilian targets and mutilation and killing of prisoners only has one purpose — to instill fear. The West needs to come to grips with the ISIS-like terror tactics employed by Russian soldiers. In response, it should arm the Ukrainian military with longer-range weapons that can expel Putin’s modern-day thugs from Ukraine. Yesterday’s announcement of an additional $550 million in military aid, which includes ammunition for HIMARS and the 155 mm artillery systems, is a step in the right direction. Still, the fragmented fashion in which these armaments are being delivered constrains Ukraine’s offensive momentum.
This “just enough” strategy only prolongs the war — and the atrocities.
Jon Sweet, a retired Army colonel, served 30 years as a military intelligence officer. His background includes tours of duty with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), DIA, NSA, and NGA. He led the U.S. European Command Intelligence Engagement Division from 2012-14, working with NATO partners in the Black Sea and Baltics. Follow him on Twitter @JESweet2022.
