The decree regulates a practice already in force on the territory, in fact the news leaks of autumn 2022 regularly reported soldiers detained in underground passages in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions
L’russian armyor prepares at offensive future. How? With a decree which sanctions the resumption of disciplinary control, rehabilitate military prisons and from heavier penalties for those who do not respect the instructions of the superiors. Faced with the influx of mobilized soldiers, the command tries to restore order to the troops. Objective: to restore the image of the army.
The decree, issued discreetly on December 30, 2022, is expected to enter into force in the near future. Developed by the Ministry of Defence, updates a practice that has been abandoned for more than twenty years: the installation of military prisons on the bases and places of deployment of the Russian army.
These prisons will be able to accept, without trial, soldiers accused of a serious breach of discipline, such as refusing to fight or abandoning a military post or base. The text specifies that these places of detention must be installed in containers or simple vans, but not in cellars or holes in the ground, “unless it is a question of protecting the lives of soldiers”, which leaves some leeway for the command.
This evocation of cellars is significant. Throughout the fall of 2022, leaks regularly reported soldiers detained in underground passages in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, sometimes several dozen men forced to mass in for weeks. The Telegram Astra channel has identified up to eleven places, with accompanying photographs.
The decree therefore makes it possible to regulate and supervise a practice already in force in the areaand it is also a further sign that Russia is organizing its long-term “special military operation” and is reorganizing its army, in view of future offensives, especially after Germany has agreed to send tanks to Ukraine through third countries such as Poland.
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