11 April 2023
Head of North Ossetia Sergei Menyailo has claimed that the commander of a North Ossetian battalion fighting in Ukraine has been beating and verbally abusing his subordinates.
On Monday, Menyailo wrote on his Telegram channel that Vera Adayeva, the head of the Heart of Victoria charity organisation, had shared video and audio recordings of North Ossetian troops ‘being bullied’ by their commander.
He claimed that the battalion consisted of 47 mobilised North Ossetians and is currently stationed in Kherson.
The video shared by Adayeva shows a Russian soldier, allegedly a member of the battalion, seen crouching against the wall in a brightly lit room. He shields his visibly bruised face and is heard saying that he ‘was wrong’.
An unidentified person off-screen can be heard ridiculing him and repeatedly swearing at him and asking him what he was apologising for and what he was ‘wrong about’.
The person then starts kicking the soldier in the face and head, and shouts at him not to wipe the blood from his face.
The North Ossetian leader has added that the commander has already been identified, and that Vladikavkaz has called on the Military Prosecutor’s Offices of the North and South Military Districts to investigate the videos.
