1/ A Russian colonel has been charged with extorting at least 1 million rubles ($10,800) from his subordinates over the past year. He is reported to have blackmailed his men and threatened to send them to join stormtrooper units, with a high chance of being killed. ⬇️ 
2/ According to the Chita-based newspaper Vechorka, judicial authorities in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine have opened a criminal case for "bribery on an especially large scale" against 57-year-old Evgeny Luzhbin.
3/ ASTRA reports that Luzhbin commanded a motorised rifle battalion of military unit 95482, based in Chita. He is accused of having levied fines, which he kept for himself, on his subordinates for offences such as drinking alcohol or leaving their unit.
4/ The charging document alleges that "If soldiers refused to pay taxes and bribes to Luzhbin, he threatened that they would be sent to assault units on the combat contact line for a long time, where they could be killed or wounded."
5/ In addition, ASTRA says, "Luzhbin allegedly demanded that his subordinates write reports on a voluntary transfer to assault units and not indicate the date, so that he could later use them for blackmail."
6/ Luzhbin's unit was reported to be imprisoning both officers and men in zindans (open pits in the ground with an iron grating across the top) in June 2023. It's likely that bribery was involved there too.
https://x.com/LaraLar93023545/status/1673430801818460161
7/ An officer interviewed by ASTRA at the time said: "Both soldiers and officers sit in the pit. They are simply beaten and thrown into it. There is an earthen floor. You sleep on rags. The "prisoners" may not be fed or given water."
8/ Vechorka reports that several other commanders from Transbaikalia have been charged with putting people in pits and demanding a ransom of 50,000 rubles to leave it. According to the officer who spoke to ASTRA, this is done through electronic payment cards:
9/ "We also have cards. From there, a transfer is made to a front man, and he goes and withdraws cash. Or they give it back in cash right away.
10/ "A receipt is always written that he allegedly borrowed from such and such, this is exactly the same front man, he is always the same, such and such an amount by such and such a date. As a result, the money goes into the pocket of the battalion commander."
11/ According to ASTRA, Luzhbin was able to rejoin the army in 2022 despite having been tried for unjust enrichment in 2018. In a version of the classic Russian 'dead souls' scam, he had continued receiving his military salary for 4 years despite being a discharged reservist.
12/ Extortion by commanders has been widespread in the Russian army throughout the war in Ukraine. Soldiers have regularly complained about their commanders extorting money from them to keep them out of front duty or be allowed to take leave.
https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1752419654088249555
13/ Even junior officers have been targeted for violent extortion. A video appeal by junior commanders published in August 2024 stated that both soldiers and junior officers were suffering extortion and beatings at the hands of their unit commander.
https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1827817682416107580
14/ Most of the time, such complaints do not achieve anything other than attracting lethal retaliation. The men in the video shown above were subsequently sent on an assault mission as punishment, quite possibly resulting in their deaths.
https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1828206916276768886
15/ It's unclear why there appears to be a crackdown now, at least in this case. The officer who told ASTRA about Luzhbin's zindans explained why such illegal punishments were usually ignored by senior officers: "Nobody gives a fuck. Statutes and laws don't apply here." /end
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