Posted on 01/30/2026 9:28:40 PM PST by RandFan
They've hung him upside down like a slab of meat. Stripped to his underwear. Arms bound tight with tape. Ankles lashed to a tree trunk in the open winter air. The second man, attached to a neighbouring tree, is at least taped upright.
A man screams at them in Russian. He stuffs a fistful of snow into one of the men's mouths. Both cringe in terror, whimpering protestations and pleas.
This is no medieval dungeon - it's the Russian army in Ukraine in the 21st century.
The men's 'crime'? Refusing to walk, yet again, into what they call 'the meat grinder': frontal assaults against dug-in Ukrainian machine guns and drones, where the life expectancy of a recruit is measured in minutes. The punishment was filmed not so much to shame the perpetrators - whose voices were digitally disguised - as to terrorise the rest of the conscripts. This is not merely sadism; there is a method to it.
The men are a warning pinned to a tree like a note: advance or hang. This is now the lot of the Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
Other videos that have surfaced tell the same story. Men are beaten with rifle butts for retreating, denied food and endlessly threatened with execution. In one case, a deserter is forced to dig his own grave before being 'reprieved' and sent back to the line in what is one of the most cruel forms of psychological torture. In another, a unit commander shoots over the heads of his own men to drive them out of a trench and into oncoming enemy fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Marcus steal your account?
More or less. From the Tsars to Stalin to Putin, Russia’s military has always relied on brutal methods. Conscripts and recruits are abused and mistreated, training is rudimentary and based on obedience rather than the development of military skills, and combat commands to troops are often enforced at gunpoint.
Russian leaders have a history of providing their armies with extra incentive to march forward.
That’s right. And this from the article: “The men’s ‘crime’? Refusing to walk, yet again, into what they call ‘the meat grinder’”
So he got a merciful punishment for mutiny and refusing orders. Lucky he wasn’t just shot out of hand.
I’ve said from the very beginning that all sides are lying to us, and there are a lot more than two.
In war, the first casualty is the truth.
[Can anyone explain what’s happening? Is this how they treat a ‘deserter’?]
Don’t let Greatest Generation propaganda fool you - 2/3 of the WW2 US force were draftees. Despite the extreme, maybe over-the-top propaganda, the majority of fighting age American men weren’t thrilled to be risking their lives an ocean away on each side. They had to be drafted, and there were no escape routes in a Western Hemisphere where gunboat diplomacy was a fact of life. US displeasure for harboring draft dodgers could result in a battering by the US Navy.
The photo is present but the photo proves nothing. It could be fake.
How do we know there is a bit of truth in this story? Sounds more like fake news to me.
One of the reasons for the execution of Eddie Slovik was to set an example to deter the extremely high number of desertions in the US Army over in Europe.
A close reading of the Daily Mail article is warranted.
Towards the end of the article -- which many will not read fully, for the headlines and graphics are the hoped for message, usually -- one reads from the article's author, "We are already at war with Russia - and have been for years, whether we accept or like this fact, it remains the case."
Who are "we?" As the article is from the UK, is it the UK which is "at war with Russia - and have been for years?"
As David Patrikarakkos is British and his Twitter states he was "Visiting Fellow (2027) All Souls, Oxford." Of him on learns:
"David Patrikarakos is the author of Nuclear Iran: the Birth of an Atomic State, a contributing editor at the Daily Beast, and a contributing writer at Politico. He has written for the New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. He lives in London."Thus, "we" at the minimum means David Patrikarakos, as he speaks for Britain, as well as speaking through the Daily Beast and Politico.Source: About the Author Hachette Book Group, n. d.
His argument at the end of his article is clear. "...whether we accept or like this fact" he says "we" are at war with Russia. Of course, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated something similar, as to the "proxy war." In that regard, one reads:
" 'It's been very clear from the beginning that (U.S. President Donald Trump) views this as a protracted, stalemated conflict,' Rubio told Fox News in an interview on Wednesday. 'And frankly, it's a proxy war between nuclear powers – the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia – and it needs to come to an end'."So the message is 'we are at war with Russia and, per Rubio speaking for the United States, "it needs to come to an end...." So photographs circulated on social media in 2022 become news again in 2026. The "the Washington-based think-tank" CSIS is invoked to add to the tale. ( Thomas J. Pritzker -- Executive Chairman, Hyatt Hotels Corporation; and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and one of a wealthy family including J.B. Pritzker, governor of Illinois, and Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce in the Obama Administration. )Source: Kremlin says Rubio's view of Ukraine conflict as a US-Russia proxy war matches that of Putin Reuters, 6 March 2025.
So, the question is 'how?' That's been the question for years, as we've watched the EU and the UK try to involve the Trump-Vance administration in a deeper and deeper active involvement, with the same voices -- that Coalition of the Willing -- being ready AFTER the United States does....
Back to the Daily Mail, some of the comments are interesting ( after one steps past the spamming on both sides ):
"Billy Pearce, More Suffering, United Kingdom, 41 minutes agoAnother references the very small UK military with:End of the month story time again. Keep the war going, money to be made, Russian Federation is loosing ... Send more money, oh, and expensive aircraft & missiles too. Just don't be sidelined by mass immigration, high energy & food bills or high taxes and restrictions."
To be advised, BY-THE-SEA. FALLING APART U.K., United Kingdom, 51 minutes agoThe comments go back and forth, rather like some threads here on Free Republic, with accusations of propaganda -- likely true -- on all sides.Zelenski announced.... in December, 35,000 occupiers were eliminated , in November, there were 30,000, and in October, 26,000 eliminated occupiers'... thats 91,000 in 3 months. and the UK has ,what?, 76,000???
Max - uk, Manchester, United Kingdom, 1 hour agoCertainly, some of the comments are aimed directly at President Trump.And now Treacherous Trump is withdrawing America from Protecting UK and Europe.. Putin will start to Push towards us and poorly defended Europe. .and if they will do this to their own soldiers to make them Fight..Think what they would do to Captured European soldiers..or the Families of countries they invade.?.Time to wake up Mr Starmer
dinkie1993, Solihull, United Kingdom, 2 hours agoSo, from the Daily Mail's Patrikarakos, the message from a video from 2022 and elaborated by CSIS in DC, "We are already at war with Russia - and have been for years, whether we accept or like this fact, it remains the case." And the UK would very much like to have someone fight it for them. Meanwhile Secretary Rubio says "it needs to come to an end."And Donald Trump is cosying up to the monster Putin.
---- "Can anyone explain what's happening?"
Yes, just as already exhibited in the Daily Mail comments and in this thread's comments, propaganda is at work. The "Treacherous Trump" theme couples to the "monster Putin," while this war ostensibly between officially non-NATO Ukraine and non-NATO Russia continues, and in parallel lobbying to sway President Trump to become more involved in this proxy war is a foot, or elect Democrats in the midterm and impeach President Trump again. After all, a video from 2022 should excite us to lobby President Trump more -- for more war.
What's going on is what has been going on. Time will tell.
And since your moniker is RandFan, he wrote, "Let's hope diplomacy succeeds before we are dragged into yet another war. "
Best wishes.
History attests to the fact that there is no limit to the number of humans that can be sacrificed by dictators to insure their hold on power. Putin is just the latest example.
Proves me wrong.
RandFag is Psyho Mommy is disguise
Bring on the Sleestacks!🦎🦎🦎
“Can anyone explain what’s happening?”
Daily Mail. They also claimed for 4 YEARS that Russia was just about out of missiles, that their soldiers were down to using shovels, and that they were pulling chips out of washing machines for military use.
Also, I cannot tell the difference between a Russian and a Ukrainian (often because there isn’t any)...so I would have to take the Daily Mail’s word for that too, and given the above, I’m skeptical.
Can anyone explain what’s happening? Is this how they treat a ‘deserter’?
—
Refused to go on meat assaults, not desertion. These are the lucky ones - other Russian officers have been known to just shoot them out of hand ...
Video at link
WarTranslated@wartranslated, Jan 26 2026
Nothing unusual. This is how the Russian army punishes those who refuse to go on a meat-grinder assault.
Your name is unfamiliar to me. But if this is the caliber of your posts, perhaps reddit or instagram would be more to your liking.
CC
This is the Daily Mail. You mean the public school wankers running MI-6 who still think they are playing the Great Game but on a few broken ships and submarines backed up by all the force that their NATO buddies can muster. Where do you think Orwell got all of his material?
This isn’t his first go around and he isn’t a real freeper, I think he is the guy who shows up periodically and has many accounts that he blows through.
I thought that was a little crude and bombastic for a well intentioned poster.
CC
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.