A Russian soldier was allegedly tied to a tree and thrown into a pit for two days after refusing to fight with a serious knee injury in Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Artyom Filin, 35, from the Moscow region, said he was beaten by his commander after he was unable to complete a combat mission in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region because he had torn the meniscus in his knee. Officers punished him by tying him to a birch tree before leaving him in a pit for two days, according to the independent Russian outlet Astra.
Filin had been serving a prison sentence for attempting to sell drugs before signing a contract with Russia’s Defence Ministry in November 2024, securing his early release in exchange for military service. Since the early stages of the invasion, the Kremlin has increasingly recruited prisoners to replenish its frontline forces as Russia continues to suffer heavy losses in Ukraine.
According to Astra, Filin had previously been diagnosed with a neuropsychiatric disorder, suffered a traumatic brain injury and lived with chronic facial pain caused by a damaged trigeminal nerve before being sent to the front. Despite tearing the meniscus in his knee during training and walking with a stick, Filin was still ordered on a combat mission.
He could not complete the mission due to injury, so his comrades returned him to the base. “However, the officers tied the man to a birch tree as punishment, and then threw him into a pit for two days,” Astra reports.
Filin was also allegedly beaten by the commander, identified by Astra as “Tobol”, after refusing to return to combat with the injury.
After he and his mother lodged complaints, Filin claimed military authorities fabricated a criminal case accusing him of losing an AK-74 assault rifle. He insists he “never received or even signed for this machine gun” and alleges investigators threatened and tortured him during questioning.
Months later, after suffering shrapnel wounds, Filin said he refused to return to the front before receiving proper treatment. Russian authorities later accused him of abandoning his unit and declared him wanted. According to Astra, he is now in hiding while men in military uniform and civilian clothes regularly visit his mother’s home searching for him.