In a heartbreaking video message that exposes the brutal reality within Russian military ranks, Tatjana Bykova mourns her son Andrej, who was brutally killed by his own commanders. She uses the chilling term "annulled" to describe how Russian military officials ended her son's life, naming them directly and expressing her profound hatred toward them.
The Tragic Story of Andrej Bykov
The sequence of events that led to Andrej's murder began with extortion attempts by his superiors. First, they demanded half of the compensation he received for a military injury. When the young soldier refused this illegal demand and instead purchased a car, the commanders immediately demanded he hand over the vehicle. His refusal to surrender his property became a death sentence.
Bykova took the courageous step of filing official complaints with both the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the public prosecutor's office. However, no action was taken against the perpetrators. Instead, Andrej Bykov was simply declared missing, another statistic in the ongoing conflict.
"I was told that he was beaten to death. He is lying in a forest near Galizynovka," Bykova revealed to the independent Russian media outlet Verstka, referring to a village in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast.
Widespread Culture of 'Annulment' Exposed
In October 2025, Verstka launched a groundbreaking investigative project highlighting the systematic torture and so-called "annulment" practices within the Russian army. The term has become military slang for the murder of comrades. The news outlet went further, publishing the names of dozens of commanders involved in these atrocities.
The very next day, the reality of this culture was inadvertently confirmed by Aleksandr Paschtschenko, a deputy from the ruling United Russia party from Khakassia in southern Siberia. Responding to criticism from an angry citizen, he threatened, "At the front, you would be annulled for such statements." This remark from a government official openly acknowledged that "annulments" have become normalized within military culture.
Military expert Yuri Fyodorov confirmed to DW that the murder of comrades represents only part of the disturbing situation within Russian forces. "Torture is also widespread," he stated, describing how dedicated Telegram channels share videos of these brutal practices.
Brutal Torture Methods Revealed
The torture methods employed within Russian ranks are both creative and cruel. According to expert accounts, soldiers face punishments including being thrown into pits and fed garbage for one to two weeks, depending entirely on their commander's mood. Another method called "hugging a tree" involves tying soldiers to tree trunks and leaving them without food or water for up to two days.
The reasons triggering these brutal punishments vary widely, from disobedience and disciplinary violations to alcohol consumption, arguments with officers, or the refusal to hand over earnings. A soldier can be shot and then declared missing or killed in action, with officers having complete discretion over whether to deploy soldiers in high-risk areas where death is almost certain.
Military expert Jan Matveyev explained the psychology behind these actions: "If you view people as expendable and are capable of killing someone by sending them into a hopeless battle, then you will also kill because someone has committed a crime, failed to hand over money, or you have had a falling out."
Psychology of Violence in Military Ranks
Psychoanalyst Alina Putilovskaya provides deeper insight into the psychological mechanisms driving this violence. She describes how superiors "act out" or "pass on" aggressive emotions received from their own commanders. These higher-ranking officials often give unrealistic orders and withhold vital supplies while projecting an image of superiority and invincibility.
"This sparks very difficult feelings among field commanders, which they take out on their subordinates," Putilovskaya explained. Soldiers live in constant fear of becoming targets of their superiors' aggression while simultaneously experiencing pity and guilt toward comrades who are targeted, knowing they cannot help them.
Historical Roots of Military Corruption
Yuri Fyodorov traces the culture of "annulments" to corrupt officers and undisciplined soldiers, noting that the Russian officer corps has deteriorated since the 1990s. Many individuals remained in the army simply because they couldn't find other employment, supplementing their low pay through corrupt practices like forcing soldiers into unpaid labor.
The situation has worsened with the inclusion of mercenaries fighting for money and convicted felons with their own value systems. "To keep this whole gang under control, you had to use the most brutal methods," Fyodorov stated, referencing the notorious November 2022 video showing Wagner Group mercenaries killing a comrade with a sledgehammer.
Systemic Impunity Enables Abuse
According to Jan Matveyev, the primary reasons for this violent culture include lack of discipline and the absence of a properly structured military system. "All of this encourages impunity, which makes leadership impossible. No one in the Russian army has been punished for serious war crimes such as the murders in Bucha and Mariupol," he emphasized.
This failure to hold perpetrators accountable has sent a clear signal that soldiers can kill without consequences, fundamentally undermining military discipline. Matveyev believes that the ongoing failure to address abuse means violence continues to intensify within the ranks.
Both experts agree that the Russian army would struggle to function if the culture of torture, abuse, extortion, "annulments" and war crimes were eliminated. "In reality, the functioning of the army is based on impunity and on abusing soldiers as a resource, as slaves," Fyodorov concluded starkly.
Coercion Replaces Emotional Bonds
From a psychological perspective, Putilovskaya views killings and torture as methods of exerting coercion, control and intimidation. The army leadership shows little interest in building long-term relationships with soldiers, knowing replacements will soon arrive.
"Two things hold a community together, even in war: emotional bonds and coercion. If one of these is lost, in this case, the emotional bond, then coercion gains the upper hand, which in this case turns into cruelty that escalates to the extreme," she explained.
Matveyev added a crucial distinction between Russian and Ukrainian forces: "The Ukrainian army knows what it is fighting for, even though it is having a very difficult time and suffering from major problems. It is defending its country. Most of the Russian army is well aware that there is a serious, heinous war crime going on, involving a multitude of smaller crimes, and that they have to accept it."
The story of Andrej Bykov represents just one tragic example in a systemic pattern of violence and impunity that has come to define the culture within Russian military operations in Ukraine.
