Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russian commanders are able to commit crimes with impunity, according to a Russian commentator, because they can send witnesses to their deaths, obstruct investigators, and exploit the relative powerlessness of investigative bodies. ⬇️

2/ Notorious cases such as the killing of two drone pilots (pictured above) by their commander after denouncing him for dealing drugs have gone unpunished. Russian warblogger Anastasia Kashevarova explains why criminal commanders are able to evade military justice:

3/ "Problems with inspections at the front: inaccessibility of the front line for the supervisory authorities, failure of the command to comply with the orders of the supervisory authorities, lack of authority of the supervisory authorities,…

4/ …priority of military command orders...

Unfortunately, war is accompanied by great feats and heinous crimes. It has always been this way, and it will always be this way.

5/ "The only question is whether the warring state fights against this or lets everything take its course.

During World War II, there were betrayals at the front, the transfer of information to the enemy, and the killing of one's own people; SMERSH dealt with all of this.

6/ "Now we do not have a structure that has real authority to combat war crimes or crimes committed by the military.

The current process of investigating and prosecuting crimes committed by the military is complicated by the following factors:

7/ "Problem 1: The prosecutor's office, the Department of Military Counterintelligence, and the Military Investigation Department do not always reach the front lines, where most violations of the rights of military personnel occur.

8/ "Even so, in most cases, the supervisory authorities do not go to the front line, but summon witnesses to themselves through the command. What does the command do? It sends all witnesses to the front line.

9/ "The probability that witnesses will return from the front line is negligible. Without witnesses and direct participants, it is impossible to prove anything.

10/ "Problem 2: On the orders of the commander of a soldier who went AWOL because of crimes committed against him, he is being taken back to his unit, away from the military investigation department and the prosecutor's office. Investigators and prosecutors can do nothing.

11/ "The only thing that can be done is to quickly transfer the soldier to another unit where he will actually fight without abuse and extortion.

12/ "Problem 3: The military very often does not hand over those who have committed a crime. For example, this was the case in the Korenevsky district of the Kursk region, when some soldiers were caught on camera looting.

13/ "Prosecutors arrived, but they were not handed over, as there was no one else to fight and no one would remove them from the front line. There have also been cases where non-military personnel took up arms and refused to hand over soldiers to investigators.

14/ "Problem 4: Supervisory bodies have no real authority and are deprived of any independence. Their instructions are often not followed; moreover, those who turn to the military police or the prosecutor's office for protection are beaten up by the sabotaging command.

15/ "And the employees attached to a particular unit are sometimes involved and cover up for those who violate the charter and the law.

16/ "What is needed here is an analogue of SMERSH; there is no need to invent anything, everything has already been invented before us. A serious separate structure with real powers will quickly restore order in the army.

17/ "This will restore justice and increase the desire to fight, so that soldiers will understand what they are fighting for and why they are going to die.

18/ "As it stands, there is a lack of discipline and justice on the front lines, the law has been lost there, no one lives by the rules, and moral decay is taking place in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces, all of which leads to a decline in morale.

19/ "And no amount of money will make people really fight for their country if there is no justice and a greater likelihood of dying at the hands of their own side than at the hands of the enemy.

Restoring order in the army is the top priority." /end

Source:
t.me/akashevarova/8…