Tilannestudio’s 87th episode examines the role of torture as part of Russia’s violence machine.
Russia engages in blatant violence both as part of its military operations and as a solution to the country’s internal problems. For example, during the war in Ukraine, direct torture has been seen in Russia a lot and in many different contexts.
A recent announcement by the UN Mission in Ukraine confirms that Russian torture of prisoners of war is still commonplace at the front.
– The target of torture is not only the enemy’s soldiers, but to a large extent also civilians and demonstrably also animals, says Iltalehti’s military expert Emil Kastehelmi In the situation studio.
Recently, however, Russia’s spate of people has been talked about, especially within Russia, in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on Moscow.
The Russian authorities have tortured the suspects of the attack very publicly instead of a professional interrogation process.
– One suspect’s ear was cut off and fed to him. One was given electricity to the genitals, while the other was suffocated and spanked, Kastehelmi lists.
The Russian authorities have not hidden the violence they used against the suspects of the Moscow terrorist attack. Stella Pictures
What is interesting in this case is the open attitude of the Russian authorities towards the practice of mindless violence.
– All the material from the actions that has spread online has been published by the authorities, the military expert points out.
– So there has been a very clear will to communicate the matter.
Attention elsewhere
According to Kastehelmi, it is clear that the background of the public acts of torture has been, above all, the Russian authorities’ effort to show their strength after the terrorist attack in Moscow.
– The effort may have been to give such an immediate message to the people that terrorists and terrorist acts are taken seriously. That the extreme punishment immediately falls on those who engage in such acts.
However, in reality, targeting terrorism suspects with brutality is not the most effective method, and Kastehelmi believes that the Russian authorities also understand this.
– If we now think about the terrorists connected to ISIS, then these completely extreme fanatics or people inclined to that type of thinking will hardly refrain from committing terrorist acts just because they might also be targeted with violence.
Therefore, according to Kastehelmi, a more likely explanation for the atrocities committed by Russia is the effort of the Russian authorities to shift the citizens’ attention away from their own failure in combating the terrorist attack in Moscow.
– The symbolic gesture is perhaps intended to ignore the fact that the regime was not capable of protecting its citizens in this attack in Moscow.
In Ukraine, Russia has tortured its prisoners of war systematically, “almost as an institutionally acceptable measure”, describes Kastehelmi. lev radin / Alamy Stock Photo
Double standard
As a recent UN report reveals, Russia continues its inhumane treatment also as part of its war in Ukraine. This is despite the fact that there is hardly any evidence of the activity’s usefulness in, for example, interrogations.
– It is known that torture is not very effective in obtaining comprehensive and high-quality information, Kastehelmi points out.
Despite the meager benefits, ordinary Russians also seem to have a remarkably positive attitude towards torture practiced by soldiers as part of warfare.
– The Russian public gets angry mostly when an outsider comes to kill Russians, or if it turns out that Russian prisoners of war have been mistreated, says Kastehelmi.
In Ukraine, on the other hand, the brutalities practiced by the Russian soldiers in some places even gather support and encouragement. An indication of this can be found, for example, on Russian social media, where even positive comments may accumulate under the material depicting the torture of Ukrainians.
– So here is a double standard created through dehumanization, describes Kastehelmi.
The 87th episode of Tilannestudio can be watched in its entirety from the beginning of the story.
Special reporter Emil Kastehelmi is one of the founders of the Black Bird Group, which follows the situation at the front of the war in Ukraine. The team follows the development of the war in Ukraine through open sources and updates the situation on The War in Ukraine online map.
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