Russian deserters are tortured and executed by their own commanders in the south of Ukraine, especially in Kherson Oblast, Ukrainian ATESH partisans say. The underground movement has reported on mass reprisals against those who do not want to obey the brutal orders of the Russian army.

Currently, some Russians fight due to coercion, but many others serve under contract, motivated by salary and social benefits. However, a general mobilization in Russia has not been declared at present.

According to surveys in 2025, support for the war against Ukraine among Russians fluctuated around 74–78%. For example, in June 2025, 74% of Russians supported continuing the war, and in July 2025, the support level rose to 78%.

Mobile groups hunting soldiers

Sources from the headquarters of the 104th Air Assault Division, which is fighting in southern Ukraine, said that commanders created mobile groups to capture those trying to leave their positions. These groups operate not only on the front line but also across Crimea, even taking detainees from military police.

Brutal “field courts” and torture

After capture, soldiers face horrific punishments. They are forced to fight each other to the death, tied to vehicles and dragged in front of their units, or thrown into pits without food or water. Most such cases have been recorded in the 328th Air Assault Regiment on the Kherson front.

Roughly 72% of Kherson Oblast remains under Russian occupation, mostly the left bank of the Dnipro River. The Ukrainian-controlled right bank includes the city of Kherson itself. After the liberation of the regional center in 2022, residents of Kherson still live amid constant Russian shelling and drone and missile attacks. 

Mass desertion and fear in the Russian army

Commanders are trying to stop mass desertion by using torture and humiliation.

“Every soldier has a choice — to become a victim of this system or to save his life,” ATESH stresses.

Erlier,