Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Relatives of Russian soldiers missing in a notorious Luhansk-based brigade have published a leaked audio recording of a torture session, likely indicative of the systematic use of torture. Its commander is said to be a 'sadist' who has sent over 1,000 men to their deaths. ⬇️

2/ The 123rd Separate Guards Motorised Rifle Brigade (military unit 40463) gained notoriety after over 100 men who were transferred to it, some as punishment, disappeared without trace. Relatives have been trying to find out what has happened to them.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1848994938635042920

3/ ASTRA reports that relatives of one of the missing men received his personal belongings and found an audio recording of beatings and torture on his phone. The man likely recorded it secretly while witnessing a torture session intended to 'remotivate' onlookers.

4/ As ASTRA reports, "the audio recording contains the screams of an unknown man and, according to the soldier's wife, the voice of the commander of the 1st motorized rifle battalion of the 123rd Brigade, Alexei Korchagin, call sign Cap'."

5/ "According to her, the audio was recorded in May 2024. The relatives of the soldier who owned the phone do not know who exactly is screaming in the audio and why he is being beaten.

6/ "Along with the audio on the phone, the relatives claim that they found correspondence on Telegram, in which the man who is screaming in the video writes that he is “with Cap and Zolotoy” and that the interlocutor “should not dare write to him”…

7/ …because he is being tortured with electricity. He also sent a video message and showed that he had blood on his head."

8/ A soldier who has served with the brigade says that the torture was carried out with a Soviet-era TA-57 field telephone, known as a "tapik" in military jargon. "Two wires are connected to a person and a handle is turned, then the victim receives a current of 110 volts."

9/ This has been used as a torture device by the Russian military and security forces for decades. After the Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow in March 2024, a photo was leaked showing one of the alleged terrorists being tortured with a TA-57 attached to his genitals.

10/ The torture is known variously as “The Putin Phone Call,” “Chubais,” or “Polygraf Polygrafych.” Freelance journalist Vladislav Esipenko experienced it being wired to his ears: "The pain was intense, my eyes were ablaze, and it felt as if my brain was boiling."

11/ "I was ready to confess to anything and sign any papers under such pain."

Electric torture can be extremely dangerous. In April 2024, Texan communist Russell Bentley was electrocuted under torture in an abandoned mine in Donetsk.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1824501968821256208

12/ Korchagin is described as "a real sadist" by a soldier who served under him . He is said to command the 123rd Brigade's assault units.

13/ "Maybe he is the best at forcing [to attack]. But Tashkent [the deceased brigade commander Denis Ivanov] trusted him, and Kashtan [the current head of the brigade] trusts him. He himself became a commander after Tashkent's death.

14/ "The direction was very difficult and many died. More than one thousand died on the railway [line]. Cap [Korchagin] himself led them, although all four battalions took part."

15/ The fate of the man heard being tortured is unclear. Given that he is one of the missing, it's likely that he was either killed by his commander or died because of him. /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/astrapress/681…
🔹 t.me/astrapress/681…
🔹 en.zona.media/article/2023/0…