Block, Siteadmin, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, delete, edit, move, nsTeam2RO, nsTeam2RW, nsTeam2_talkRO, nsTeam2_talkRW, protect, rollback, Administrators, template
295,464
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 152:
Line 152: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Major events in the Ukraine proxy war, 2026 (view source)
Revision as of 11:41, June 28, 2026
, June 28→Mines surround the training camp to prevent escape
When pressed about the minefields, 425th representative Andriy Suray eventually gave this answer:
When pressed about the minefields, 425th representative Andriy Suray eventually gave this answer:
{{Cquote|If you see ‘mines’ written on signs, it isn’t worth testing that with your legs}}
{{Cquote|If you see ‘mines’ written on signs, it isn’t worth testing that with your legs}}
==Escape and tape===
The aforementioned Oleksandr Zhykin tried to escape the 425th on his first day in the [[forest]]. Luckily, he was in an old camp that had not yet been mined. He ran away with a fellow [[soldier]] while going to the [[toilet]], rushing in different directions while the guard was distracted. The guard shot at their [[leg]]s with live [[ammunition]], but they were saved by [[tree]]s. They were also followed by [[drone]]s. However, they were caught. Zhykin’s teeth were knocked out and his ribs broken.
{{Cquote|It was hell. And that guard I ran away from said: ‘So, you little bitch, do you want me to go to the front instead of you?}}
As usual in [[Ukraine]], whether in the assault units or the mobilization units, discipline is maintained by the constant threat of being sent to the front. If you fail to fulfill your mobilization target or lose fresh meat, you yourself become meat.
The 425th officially denied beating Zhykin.
After his beating, Zhykin says he and his fellow escapee were covered completely with [[duct tape]] and thrown onto a concrete floor. They spent a week in ‘the barn’, occasionally visited by guards for a new beating, sometime with the butt of a [[gun]], sometimes kicked by boots. Zhykin didn’t eat or drink much because he feared going to the toilet.
On the third day after leaving the barn, Zhykin ran away again. He and two other soldiers fled, with one lucky man successful. Zhykin and the other one were caught, beaten, thrown into the barn again, then taken out after a day. [[Handcuff]]ed to each other, they were transported to the training ground. They spent a week there walking around with their hands cuffed to each other. They even slept on the second bunk like that. Climbing up was not easy.
A week later, they were given [[shovel]]s and told to dig toilets and holes while handcuffed. Zhykin finally managed to be transferred to another unit after writing an official report.
''Babel'' writes that all the men they spoke to recalled being taped. There was also a separate zone in the dugout of each training center for those refusing to serve for '[[religious]] reasons. Those experiencing withdrawal were also sent there.
Three witnesses recalled particularly unruly elements being taped up. They also remembered being ‘tied to a pole inside the dugout where we were kept’. The pole, like the dugout, was built using [[wood]]. This is certainly not a practice invented by the assault units. Back in late 2024, Ukrainian [[media]] shared an image of a soldier [[torture]]d and [[crucified]] onto a wooden cross in a dugout.
Zhykin’s family looked for him while he was in the 425th. When he was eventually given a [[phone]], he wrote and then deleted a message to relatives reading ‘Call the hotline every day. At least they’ll stop beating me. I’m in [[hell]].’
It was a long time until he was allowed to make a phone call, and even then only under supervision, in speakerphone mode. Luckily, the guard didn’t suspect that Zhykin, sitting on the second bunk, might dial on video. He told his relatives he was ‘Alive, healthy, everything is fine’, while showing his bloodied, beaten face.
Zhykin’s father wrote an official complaint to the [[military]] [[law enforcement]] service. Of course, the 425th soon found out about it. The company officer visited Zhykin in his tent: ‘What are you doing, you wanted to f#ck everyone up around here? You video called?’ Zhykin thought he was about to be killed, and denied calling on video. The company officer said he had photo evidence. Nevertheless, they stopped beating him after that, though they forced him to record a message proving he was fine.
Zhikin only managed to escape from the 425th while being transferred to another location. It also helped that he was near his hometown.
The 425th continued to search for its lost material, and sent representatives to Zhykin’s father’s house, questioning him and waiting several days for the [[son]] to return. They also called Zhykin’s girlfriend using his tablet, which he’d left on the base.
==References==
==References==