The UK Ministry of Defence reports that Russian commanders have likely started “punishing breaches in discipline” by detaining offending troops in what they call ‘Zindans’ – which are holes in the ground covered with a metal grille.

“Multiple recent reports from Russian personnel give similar accounts of being placed in Zindans for misdemeanours including drunkenness and attempting to terminate their contracts,” the defence ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.

It goes on to note that in the early months of the war, many Russian commanders took “a relatively light touch” in enforcing discipline, “allowing those who refused to solider to quietly return home”.

But sometime around Autumn 2022, there has been reports of multiple increasingly draconian initiatives to improve discipline in the force. It says this especially happened after Russia appointed Valery Gerasimov as its overall commander for the war in Ukraine from January of this year.

His appointment was part of several major shake-ups of Moscow’s military leadership during the stumbling invasion of its neighbour.

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