Russia opens investigation after video of military police beating soldiers is released online

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has opened an investigation after video footage was published on social media showing what appear to be a military policeman savagely beating contract soldiers bound for Ukraine with a baton and using stun guns against them.

In the videos, a man in Russian military police uniform is shown walking over to one of the soldiers and beating him to the ground with a baton while screaming expletives at him and stunning him with an electric shock gun.

Another soldier with a walking stick is then shown being beaten and stunned with the gun as the man in military police uniform demands they undress.

The time stamp on the video, which was distributed on Telegram by Russian war correspondents, is Jan. 16 and local authorities said the events occurred at a unit in Kyzyl, in the southern Siberian region of Tuva.

It is unclear what prompted such a beating of the soldiers. Russian war correspondents said were wounded soldiers who had been discharged from hospital to return to the front lines in Ukraine.

Tuva’s regional government said in a statement on its website that an investigation had been opened after the videos appeared.

“In one of them, on January 16, 2025, cases of ill-treatment of contract soldiers were recorded in military unit No. 55115, including beatings and the use of electric shock guns before they were sent to the SVO,” the Tuva government said.

The SVO is the acronym Russia uses to describe what it officially calls its “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine.

“The perpetrators have been identified, a pre-investigation check is being conducted against them, and an assessment of the circumstances of the incident will be given in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, and the perpetrators will be punished,” the regional government said.

The defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)