Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russian military authorities are reported to have rescued 17 soldiers from their own commander, who was holding them prisoner, torturing them and stealing their salaries. Other soldiers are said to have been murdered, with their deaths covered up by compliant medics. ⬇️

2/ In early September, Russian military prosecutors arrested the commander of the assault unit of the 110th Guards Brigade, Vladimir Novikov – call sign 'Bely' ('White'). He has been decorated multiple times and participated in the bloody battles for Avdiivka and Krasnohorivka.

3/ The arrest reportedly came after men under his command got into a fight with employees of the local military prosecutor's office in a bar in Donetsk, likely under the influence of alcohol. The prosecutor's office responded by raiding the unit's base with OMON riot police.

4/ According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, citing documents from the investigation, the raid discovered "real hostages ... within the walls of the unit, who were beaten, humiliated and had their salaries taken away.

5/ "At the time of the inspection, 17 servicemen of the unit, aged from 19 to 40, were found in the dog pens. All of them were tortured and testified against their commanders.

6/ "According to the materials of the criminal case, so far only two servicemen are accused: Vladimir Novikov (call sign "Bely") and a certain Gvozdev A.A. (call sign "Nail").

7/ "They took hostage soldiers who had no relatives and for months received millions of rubles from their cards.

So far, a criminal case has been opened under the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Robbery", "Extortion" and "Kidnapping".

8/ "However, the rescued said that they were lucky, since the hostages who were before them were "zeroed out" [killed].

9/ "This was partly confirmed by the fact that one of the privates of the unit was noticed trying to find trying to find medics who could send skeletonised remains under the names of fallen fighters – to write off the dead back home."

10/ Novikov's arrest has aroused anger from Russian milbloggers, who regard him as something of a celebrity – he has featured in propaganda broadcasts in the past. He is claimed to have stood up against drug dealers, whom the bloggers claim had him arrested in retaliation.

11/ However, Novikov – a former miner from Donetsk who has been fighting since 2014 – is reported to have a long history of torturing and robbing his own men. Together with the recently deceased Pavel Klimenko of the 5th Brigade, he is said to have operated a "torture mine".

12/ This is very likely the abandoned mine in the former Petrovsky district of Donetsk where the pro-Russian American Russell Bentley was tortured to death in April 2024. Other Russian fighters have spoken of being detained, robbed and tortured there.

https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1824501983010853032

13/ According to RT journalist Andrey Filatov, Novikov's detention was extended by another four months on 8 November.

The independent Russian news outlet Mediazona was able to identify several of the soldiers who were allegedly held hostage by Novikov.

14/ 23-year-old Aslan Agachev's mother confirms that "Yes, he was in captivity, by his own people. They beat him, beat him with sticks... We found out when he was already in the hospital." He had to undergo treatment for festering wounds caused by the beatings.

15/ The mother of 37-year-old Viktor Mishagin, a convict soldier, says that "19 people" were held in a room "the size of a doghouse". He called her after being freed: "Mom, mom, we were freed by the OMON".

16/ Mishagin told her that "they had abused them, that they had beaten them, that they had demanded money. I said: 'Did you give it to them?' Well, yes, he said. I know that they had beaten him very badly. He said: 'Mom, they smashed a shovel handle on us.'"

17/ Mishagin's mother Natalya says that Novikov's deputy, Alexander 'Gvozd' Gvozdev, kept her son "there with him, forced him to look for drugs. He got my son hooked on drugs, on some salt [mephedrone]."

18/ “Gvozd told him that he would be killed and written off just like the others. And he kept telling me: ‘Mom, don’t call him, don’t say anything, he’ll kill me.’”

19/ According to Natalya, other soldiers in the unit were also extorted, as in the case of a soldier from Krasnodar. "They [commanders] asked his wife: "Bring your car from Krasnodar or give us money – and we won't let your husband go to the front." (The man later died.)

20/ “There’s another one there, a bandit or whatever he is, in the same unit 42600. His name is Adam. And he took money from my son – three million. My son gave him the card out of fear, and he was in charge of the card. He says he ‘sold him a car’.

21/ "The money should come on the 20th, they’re getting 200 thousand in total, and now they’ve got 40 thousand in advance. But he doesn’t see [the money]. They put him on these drugs, on these salts, and he’s insane – he doesn’t hear or see anyone.”

22/ Mishagin is now a witness in the case against Novikov. However, Natalya says, he and the other freed soldiers have been threatened. "This Adam said: 'They'll all be killed. They'll be caught and killed for what they did to the commander'".

23/ Natalya has since lost touch with her son. ""Two days ago he sent me a text message: 'Mom, forgive me for everything, I'm really tired, I can't live like this.' And now I haven't been able to get through to him for several days.

24/ "I called the police in Donetsk, they replied: 'We don't have time now, we have a lot of work, goodbye.'" /end

Sources:
🔹 t.me/vchkogpu/52434
🔹 t.me/filatovcorr/42…
🔹 zona.media/article/2024/1…