Larisa Kozovaya16:28, 07.02.25

The occupier told how he shot a civilian on the orders of a commander with the call sign “Hammer”.

Three Russian soldiers from the 155th Marine Brigade of the Russian Pacific Fleet , known for its cruelty , who surrendered to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, admit that they know about the shooting of unarmed Ukrainian fighters and about their abuse. At the same time, the occupiers say that they are shocked by the attitude of the Ukrainian soldiers towards them, who “shared their last.” This was reported by the Airborne Assault Troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In particular, three Russians, Batrakhanov, Leontyev and Kolmakov – servicemen of the 155th separate marine brigade of the Russian army – were captured in Kursk region a month or two after the contract was signed.

“This is the same 155th brigade, whose soldiers are distinguished by particularly cruel treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Prisoners say that they heard about cases of particularly cruel treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war by marines, but did not witness it. Usually these orders were given by unit commanders. Refusal to comply was threatened with “zeroing out,” the report says.

The video released by the paratroopers shows the interrogation of the occupiers. The Russians admit that they received timely medical care in Ukrainian captivity and that the conditions of detention were up to standard.

One of the prisoners, Vyacheslav Kolmakov, born in 1974, says that he lives in the Moscow region and signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry on November 23, 2024. He claims that he went to war because of accumulated debts. He fought as part of the 2nd battalion of the 3rd company of the aforementioned brigade. He said that he was captured together with Batrakhanov and Leontyev in the village of Nikolskoye, where only three people from two groups made it through.

“We took over the house and found ourselves surrounded for a week. Two of us were wounded. The operation was led by a soldier with the call sign “Molot”, with whom we were in contact. He repeatedly said not to take Ukrainians prisoner… Somewhere on the second or third day, he gets in touch and says: “A civilian (civilian – UNIAN) is coming to you, but in fact, he is a scout. If he sees you now, he will report and a mortar will “cover” you or attack aircraft will come,” the occupier said.

He admits that at that time, on the orders of “Molot”, who threatened him with death, he shot an elderly man with a machine gun. He refused to kill the second civilian, after which the head of the “operation” said that Kolmakov would be “zeroed out”.

The prisoners of war also admit that there are “rumors” about atrocities committed by Russian marines – abuse of prisoners, and orders are coming from commanders not to take Ukrainians prisoner.  

“This is done by abnormal people, I was shocked when I found out… And they tell us that we are going to fight against the Germans and f**ks… They said that you can’t surrender – either shoot yourself or blow yourself up,” Kolmakov said.

According to him, three Russians decided to surrender because they realized that they had been abandoned by their own people, and then the Russian army began shelling the house where they were hiding with mortars. At the same time, Kolmakov admits that he is amazed by the humane attitude of the Ukrainian military.  

“To be honest, it brought me to tears… Such a turn of events – the guys gave away their last water, their last cigarettes, their last can of stew, because we hadn’t eaten for a week. Then, when we were evacuating, I didn’t have the strength to drag the wounded man, so they dragged him themselves… Or they could have simply “zeroed out,” says the Russian.

He adds: “It just turned everything upside down in my head… I don’t know, I can’t explain why Ukrainians are called Nazis…”

The prisoner of war also said that he saw soldiers from the DPRK at the training ground in Voronezh, but the Russians were not allowed closer than 15 meters to them. According to him, the Koreans are much better equipped, they were allowed to wash and wash their personal belongings every day, while the Russians “go to the bathhouse once a week.”  

(C)UNIAN 2025