Russian forces are “incredibly dangerous, oftentimes fanatical or desperate people that would torture you and kill you if they caught you,” Macer Gifford told Business Insider. 

The British volunteer took part in the battles for Kherson and Lyman, having previously fought in Syria. Due to the actions of Russian forces, his unit adopted a strict rule: “no one in the unit was allowed to be taken alive.”

Although there have been reports of mistreatment of Russian prisoners by Ukrainian forces, according to the UN, such abuse typically ends once detainees are transferred to official detention facilities. The same cannot be said for the Russian side.

International investigations have revealed systematic torture: beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, suffocation, sleep deprivation, mock executions. Some prisoners did not survive.

“Russia has gone to every depth of depravity you could possibly imagine,” emphasized Gifford.

He was “genuinely shocked” by what he witnessed during the battles in Ukraine.

In his view, many of the brutal methods used by Russian forces stem from their experience in the Syrian campaign, where they fought alongside Bashar al-Assad’s regime since 2015.  He believes Russia adopted ISIS tactics — the same terrorist group he fought in Syria.

In that country, according to the volunteer, he saw cages, torture tools, and mattresses with chains in areas controlled by militants.

“I thought that the Islamic State was a fringe, that it was a unique thing,” he said, but in his view, “many of their brutal practices have been adopted by Russia — mainly, I suppose, because they were so effective in Syria.”