A Russian soldier from the republic of North Ossetia has accused military police officers of violently beating him and other servicemen during deployment in occupied Ukraine, media reported Tuesday.
Arsen Temirayev said in a video posted on social media that Russian military police officers had attacked him and his fellow soldiers in southern Ukraine’s partially occupied region of Zaporizhzhia.
Temirayev, whose face is heavily bruised in the video, explained that the attack came after a local resident accused him and his fellow soldiers of sexually abusing her children. He denied the claims.
“[The military police officers] shoved our faces to the ground like pigs. They beat us with rifle butts… [They] fired an assault rifle next to my ear as I was lying on the ground,” he said, adding: “The red-hot muzzle [of the rifle] was pressed against my back.”
One of Temirayev’s attackers used racial slurs and said “Russia is for Russians” after learning that he was from the North Caucasus.
“I thought the Nazis were on the other side [of the frontline]. Turns out they’re among us,” he said.
Temirayev called on the authorities to bring the military police officers to justice.
Responding to the video, North Ossetia Governor Sergei Menyaylo said he had asked Russia’s military leadership to punish those involved in the attack.
“This attitude is unacceptable toward these or any other soldiers who defend Russia’s sovereignty on the frontline,” Menyaylo wrote on Telegram.