Severed ears, executions and a crucified mouse: journalists examine Russian general's messages
The tolerance for brutality in the Russian armed forces has been laid bare by messages from a Russian major general. Journalists have discovered conversations about executing Ukrainian POWs, photos of human ears strung on a cord, and a video of a live crucified mouse being "interrogated".
Source: an investigation by Skhemy, a Radio Liberty project
Details: Major General Roman Demurchiev, 49, is a deputy commander in Russia's 20th Combined Arms Army within the West grouping of the Russian armed forces.
The journalists say they received gigabytes' worth of text and voice messages from Russian military sources, revealing how certain units function and manage their routines on the ground.
The investigators emphasised that they did not review messages concerning intimate matters, drunken conversations among senior officers, darkly comic everyday incidents, or bribes such as a jar of caviar.
Among the photos they discovered on the general's phone were some of severed human ears strung on a cord. He had sent the images to his fellow soldiers and to his wife, Aleksandra.
In October 2022, he sent the photos to his wife with the caption "Mood lifted!!!" She replied that she had thought the severed ears were "tales from your Chechnya days" and asked what he planned to do with them. Demurchiev said he would "make them into a garland as a gift for someone".
"Like pigs' ears to eat with beer," the general's wife added.
The practice was obviously familiar to General Igor Timofeyev, then chief of staff and first deputy commander in Russia's 36th Army. When Demurchiev told him they had captured four prisoners, Timofeyev asked whether they had handled their ears "like when they were kids".
Timofeyev appeared to be referring to Russia's wars in Chechnya, in which both generals took part. International organisations have documented multiple cases of extrajudicial executions, torture and mutilation that took place during that period.
Demurchiev then sent Timofeyev the same photo of the severed ears that he had sent to his wife.
"Fresh ones. Nothing changes. Only time, and we get old. They're shrivelling," the general texted back.
Demurchiev frequently mentions Ukrainian prisoners of war in his messages, saying they are regularly tortured and killed.
"I've got one prisoner, I can give him to you as a gift. He's just f**king sitting there, in a pit. What should I do with him, get rid of him or hand him over to you?" he asked an officer from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) who goes by the alias "Grek" (The Greek).
Three Ukrainian prisoners had been hacked to death by "convicts" with entrenching tools, the general said. The journalists suggested this likely referred to members of the Russian unit known as Chornaya Mamba ("Black Mamba").
The officers also talked about the need to "work with" the POWs' relatives as part of efforts to recruit them.
The messages also revealed instances of animal abuse by the Russians. Mikhail Kosobokov, commander of Russia's 49th Combined Arms Army in the Southern Military District, sent Demurchiev a video of the "interrogation" of a live crucified mouse, which Demurchiev responded to approvingly.
The journalists also found an image captioned "It's not a war crime if you had fun."
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