‘They Played Football With Severed Heads’: Russian Soldier Shares Grim Details Of Putin’s Army

Last Updated:June 06, 2025, 21:30 IST

In one particularly horrifying account, Ilya Elokhin described soldiers using severed heads as footballs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A former Russian soldier shared disturbing claims of war crimes and brutal abuse within Vladimir Putin’s army, including cannibalism, torture and summary executions. Ilya Elokhin, a 34-year-old qualified primary school teacher from Russia, served as a military clerk with Russia’s Unit 71443 in the occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine.

After fleeing to Armenia, he recounted grim details of his time in the so-called “Somali battalion" and his involvement in cataloguing the dead: photographing decomposed corpses, documenting their injuries and recovering identification tags.

“They brought in Ukrainians, Germans, French," Ilya Elokhin told Vot-Tak TV, adding, “The dead Ukrainians would be brought in, unloaded from the car, and kicked around. If a person was too decomposed, they would tear off his head and play. I saw it all."

In one particularly horrifying account, Ilya Elokhin described soldiers using severed heads as footballs. He also alleged that a freed convict in his unit, known by the call sign “Ivanych," was suspected of cannibalising dead soldiers.

Torture And Executions

Ilya Elokhin said his own commanders subjected him to relentless abuse- he was beaten, threatened and forced to perform clerical work under duress.

“They humiliated me, beat me, and threatened me with assaults and ‘zeroing out’," he said, referring to a term used by Russian troops for execution. He described a pit dug outside the battalion headquarters, used to detain disobedient or fleeing soldiers. He said, “It was dug by those who later ended up in it, and guarded by soldiers with machine guns."

Detainees were tied to chairs, doused with water and beaten with stun guns and sticks, he said, adding, “They shot at least four fighters."

Humiliation And Psychological Abuse

The psychological abuse was just as cruel, Ilya Elokhin sharing that he was dressed in a skirt and black mask by fellow troops who mocked and photographed him.

“They called it black humour, laughed and asked me not to take it to heart," he said. Even as a military clerk, he was not spared, he said, recounting, “They beat me with a stun gun, woke me up with electric shocks to my heels and sent me to fill out paperwork while they were drinking or sleeping."

Financial Corruption And Escape

Ilya Elokhin alleged financial scams were rampant within the battalion. Of the 50 people who attempted to flee, Ilya Elokhin was the sixth to succeed. He now lives in exile in Armenia.

Before his escape, he claims to have recorded the deaths of approximately 1,500 Ukrainian soldiers into Russia’s military database.

Mallika Soni

When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?"

When not reading, this ex-literature student can be found searching for an answer to the question, "What is the purpose of journalism in society?"

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News world ‘They Played Football With Severed Heads’: Russian Soldier Shares Grim Details Of Putin’s Army