Inside Putin's ‘Unit 31831' where troops are electrocuted like dogs – and face suicide missions if they don't pay bribes

The Sun

a day ago

A BRUTAL Russian unit ties its soldiers up like dogs and sends them on suicide missions if they don't pay bribes, The Sun can reveal.
Unit 31831 has become renowned for its brutality among the Vladimir Putin's flailing army - already known for its executions of Ukrainians.
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And its commander is so hated that soldiers' families are making a desperate appeal to Vlad to get Major Petrosyan Oganes sacked.
The unit - which sits within the 54th Motorised Rifles Regiment - is currently fighting on the front line in Donetsk.
But soldiers have complained online that they are "expendable" and are treated like "meat".
Their families say troops are dying like "cockroaches under slippers".
Russia's murderous army is struggling to beat the brave Ukrainians defending their homeland and a summer offensive is moving at a pace slower than a snail.
But Unit 31831's commander Major Oganes has become known for disciplining soldiers by horrific beatings.
That includes tying them to posts like dogs, beating one soldier with an electric fan, and trapping soldiers in electrified cages.
Oganes exacts the beatings against soldiers who have been found to have broken the unit's rules - like being drunk.
Soldiers are tied together with a rope around their neck and handcuffed shirtless around posts where they're forced to sleep the night on the ground.
Commanders in Unit 31831 also take bribes from soldiers to not send them into the fighting.
Those who don't pay the 50,000Roubles (£476) are sent to parts of the front are forced to participate in attacks where they will likely not survive.
Russian commanders are intentionally killing so many of their own soldiers that the practice now has a slang term: zeroing out.
They also extort soldiers for cash - robbing them of 30,000Roubles (£285) to buy perfume for their wives.
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Anger against Oganes and the unit is now spilling over to Russian social media where a campaign has been launched to bring the commander down.
One person who tore into Oganes said: "May you be damned, dog and coward!"
Another wrote: "What b*******s. Sadists and maniacs!!! They act a hundred times more sophisticated in prison."
While a third posted: "This is called an internal enemy and betrayal.
"Such commanders should be put in jail for a long time."
They're desperately trying to get the dictator to step in and fix the unit.
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They wrote: "Dear Vladimir Putin...
"We are forced to turn to you for help, as guarantors of the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of servicemen, as well as members of their families!"
The Russians don't bother to tell families that soldiers have died at the front or gone missing.
Dozens of posts on Russian social media site VK feature families appealing for information about their lost son in Unit 31831.
One post from April reads: "My son is missing, military unit 31831, regiment 54.
"He signed a contract in Persianovka.
"He went to the combat zone on February 25. He went missing. Maybe someone knows, please respond, call sign Khottabych."
It paints a picture of a corrupt, violent, and short life for Vlad's boys - and that's before they try and break through the Ukrainian dronegrinder.
The Russian families continue to support Vlad's unjust invasion of Ukraine, but just want better treatment for their soldiers.
A desperate campaign has now been launched by the families of the soldiers to have them treated with more respect.
They want them to be able to kill as many Ukrainians as possible.
To the Russian public, everything in the army is presented as being well-functioning and respectful.
One school in the southern city of Volgograd, Secondary School No. 95, raised "humanitarian" funds for Unit 31831.
Photos posted to the school's social media showed children dressed in combat fatigues proudly standing with a letter of recognition for the cash they'd raised.
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Another commander of Unit 31831 wrote back: "Your assistance and caring attitude deserve deep recognition.
"We wish you peaceful skies, good health, energy, optimism, and success in your work."
The 54th MRR sits within the 9th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade - which was formerly under the Donetsk People's Republic, but the brigade was later incorporated into the Russian Army.
In March, the Centre for European Policy Analysis assessed that Russia could be 12 times more corrupt than Europe on average.
That means equipment is stolen, salaries are embezzled, and bribes are paid.
The massive amount of corruption within Russian trenches is one reason why its far larger army has become ineffective and ground to a halt by Ukraine.
Estimates have said that between 50,000 and 100,000 have vanished on the battlefield.