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Disciplinary battalion in the army, abbreviated as disbat. Disbat in the army - what is it and why are they sent there? What is disbat in the army

Disbat

Disciplinary Battalion (« disbat") - a special military unit in which military personnel convicted of criminal offenses during their military service and military college cadets serve their sentences until they receive their primary officer rank. Created for the same purposes in accordance with the previously existing criminal code. The period of service of convicts in the "disbat" was not counted towards the total period of service, with the exception of special cases (order of the district commander). At the end of the 80s, the period of service by decision of the Military Tribunal was increased to three years. There were disbats in each district, divided into “sea” and “land”. The military personnel were divided into a “permanent” composition (non-convicted persons, who held positions from squad commanders to battalion commanders) and a “variable” composition - convicts. The “permanent” officer corps was given a rank one higher than in regular units (platoon commander - captain, company commander - major, battalion commander - colonel). A serviceman sent to Disbat ("diesel") by the decision of the Military Tribunal, upon arrival in Disbat, is deprived military rank, which is restored to him after serving his term of service in Disbat (or release on parole). A serviceman sent to a disbat (application of Article 34 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR to a convicted person) by a decision of the Military Tribunal, after serving his assigned term, had no criminal record (Article 57 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR).

Since the end of the summer of 1942, on the basis of Order No. 227 of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin created front-line penal battalions for officers and army penal companies for Red Army soldiers, sergeants and foremen. Combat schedule of penal units of the Red Army - gg. there were 60 penal battalions and 1049 penal companies. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, they were transformed into disciplinary battalions and remained under this name even after the collapse of the USSR in armed forces Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus and other CIS countries.

Currently, the procedure and conditions for keeping convicted military personnel in Disciplinary Battalions are determined by the “Regulations on the Disciplinary Battalion in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 4, No. 669 and Order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 302 dated July 29, 1997. Time of stay convicted in the Disciplinary Battalion on time military service is not included (except in cases of a petition from the command of the unit addressed to the Commander of the military district, under whose subordination the Disciplinary Battalion is located, to count the period of stay in the Disciplinary Battalion against the period of active military service), but the convicts remain military personnel and wear the shoulder straps of privates (sailors). After serving 1/3 of the sentence, a convict who has embarked on the path of correction can be enrolled in the “category of those undergoing correction” and allowed to serve in uniform or to work outside the territory of the unit (with or without escort). After serving at least half of their sentence, convicts included in the “category of those undergoing correction” may be eligible for parole.

Literature

  • Great Patriotic War 1941–1945: encyclopedia.- / Ch. ed. MM. Kozlov. -M.: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1985. -832 p. with illustration, 35 l. ill.

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Synonyms

Books

  • Disbat. Novel. Absolute weapon series, Yuri Braider, Nikolai Chadovich. The book was published in 2000, 448 pages. Do you know how to properly fight demons and demons who are trying to break into our world from the very underworld? Just don't smile thinking that these...

Hello dear readers.

I'd like to talk about scary place for soldiers, where, fortunately, few now end up - about disbat.

I wasn't there myself. Colleagues and a boy in the hospital who served a full term there told me about the disbat.

Disbat - disciplinary battalion, also known as "diesel". This is special Military Unit, to which military personnel who have committed serious disciplinary offenses in relation to their service are sent.

This part is surrounded by high fences with barbed wire. There are shooting towers along the perimeter. There is an armed guard, a canine unit and a horse department in case of escape. But, in fact, it is impossible to escape from the disbat.

Why do they end up in disbat?

The main reasons for being thrown into the disbat are beating with grievous bodily harm, a gross violation of the regulations (for example, while standing as an orderly, he was playing with a bayonet knife, and then suddenly the company commander comes in and the bayonet knife, as luck would have it, jumps out of his hands and sticks in his leg) , SOCH - unauthorized abandonment of a unit (to give SOCH - an army expression meaning escape from a unit), disclosure of military secrets (we had one shot - I called my girlfriend and said: “I’m sitting here in a warehouse, but there’s enough cartridges and TNT to destroy the city !”... in the end, guys from the FSB arrived and the guy went on demobilization a year later). Thus, you can get caught in a diesel engine either for running with a machine gun to scare the birds, or for not following an order. describes the nutrition of infants.

How they are sent to disbat.

A report is drawn up against the offending soldier, and commanders fill out a bunch of paperwork for him. On the appointed day, a car arrives and takes the soldier into the distant wilderness, that is, very far from settlements. Once in the disbat, the soldier surrenders his things. He is given a special uniform. Cell phones prohibited in disbat.

Service in the disbat.

In general, speaking seriously, this is not a service, but simply hell. Cool demobilized peppers break in a week, or even earlier. The soldier must know the start date of service, the date of enrollment in the disbat and the end date of service in the disbat; he also memorizes the number of the article by which he was assigned to the disbat and the transcript of the article. In disbat everything is done according to the regulations, all movements are only by running and only in formation. The only place where you can relax is the dining room. The disbat includes correctional and forced labor. For example, making concrete blocks by hand or working on a sawmill. Every day there is complete tediousness in combat drills, physical exercises, and unrealistic jerking off while repeating the regulations in chorus. In winter, of course, the tedium lies in the fact that soldiers are forced to make unrealistically even edgings out of snow (an edging is a square of snow). If you mess up somewhere or refuse to obey, then you end up in the guardhouse. A guardhouse (also known as a “guba” or “kitcha”) is a closed room, where it’s freezing cold and you have to go gray on an iron chair, at an iron table. When opening the door, you must walk up to the person who opened the door and say everything that was described above, regarding the article and date, as well as the rank and surname. Convicts have only one rank in the disbat - private. Whether you are an officer or a sergeant, in a diesel engine you are a private. Only so-called free conscripts who serve here on conscription, as well as officers of this unit, have ranks in the unit. It is impossible to come to an agreement with either one or the other - since this is a direct road for them to diesel in the form of convicts. For this reason, the conscripts serving there are taciturn, because the first article of the charter says: “The guard is prohibited from: Entering into any contact with the convicted person...”. I know of a case where a convict asked a guard for a cigarette and he gave it to him, and the chief of guard saw this case. The result is deplorable: the guard received a sentence even longer than the convict to whom he gave the cigarette. There are known cases when guys were shoved into disbats for completely complete bullshit. Most of these cases, of course, were associated with the officer’s personal hostility towards the soldier. In rare cases, in such a barbaric way they demonstrated that there was discipline in the unit.

It is especially easy to get into disbat if the unit is statutory. On the Internet I read correspondence between Dagestanis about one such statutory part, so in it even the most harmful Dagestanis stand on the nightstand because they are afraid of getting into disbat. One told the other that they put you in a diesel engine for any nonsense.

But the hardest thing, undoubtedly, is for those conscript soldiers who serve in the military conscription service: any problem is clearly not in their favor.

Of course, now they are put in disbat less often, since officers do not want to do the legwork with paperwork, and they are also deprived of bonuses for violations identified in the unit, etc. In addition, there are now only two disbats left. However, if the officers want, they will put you in disbat.

So you shouldn’t relax or, especially, commit serious violations, so that the service doesn’t end up being longer than a year, and doesn’t take place mostly in complete hell.

The article was written by Alexander Terentyev, good luck to those who serve and are going to serve, and health to your parents.

Disbat is a disciplinary battalion, that is, a military unit special purpose, where military personnel who have committed grave disciplinary violations regarding military service end up.

A separate disciplinary battalion is a special-purpose formation in the armed forces of the Russian Federation. This is a separate military unit where military personnel who were sentenced for committing criminal offenses during military service serve their sentences. Also, cadets of military schools and higher educational institutions are included in disbats until they are awarded their first officer rank.

For what actions are they sent to disbat?

Disbats are formed for the purpose of serving a sentence by military personnel in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The period of service of the guilty in a disciplinary unit is not included in the total period of military service, with the exception of only individual cases (by order of the commander of the military forces of the district or region). That is, a guilty serviceman who has served the entire period of punishment for the committed act in a disciplinary battalion is then sent to complete his term of service for the period that remained until he was sentenced.

Today, soldiers and sergeants are sent to separate disbats to serve criminal sentences:

  • those who have committed criminal offenses during military service;
  • sentenced by a military court to such punishment.

Let us note that after serving their full term in the disbat, military personnel who have fully served their required term of service under the law do not have a documented criminal record.

The perpetrators are sent to such a battalion solely by decision of a military court. Persons liable for military service are sent to these correctional institutions who have committed criminal acts that are not classified as grave, but which, in accordance with the norms of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, are punishable by imprisonment for up to 2 years. In most cases, military personnel are disciplined for such offenses as going AWOL and using hazing against newly arrived colleagues.

In disciplinary battalions, the norms of the general military regulations, and not the Code of Criminal Procedure, are applied. In addition to serving his sentence in the disbat, the released serviceman has the obligation to serve out his stipulated term in a regular army unit. Only after this he receives his documents without a mark on the presence of a criminal record. The key differences between a correctional unit and a standard military unit are:

  • undeniable adherence to the norms of the charter;
  • a rigid and clearly established daily routine;
  • complete absence of dismissals.

Awarded mandatory service in disbat, as a rule, they represent economic activity.

Features of the organization

In most cases, the total number of disbats is approximately 300 convicts. The procedure and conditions of stay of convicted military personnel in a special battalion are regulated by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of June 4, 1997 No. 669 and Order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 302 of July 29, 1997.

In accordance with these regulations, the time served in disbat is not included in the total period of military service. However, in order to achieve its inclusion, it is necessary to send a petition to the command of the military unit addressed to the commander-in-chief of the military forces of a certain region or district within whose control the disciplinary battalion resides. This document must indicate the reason and request for inclusion of the period of stay in the disbat in the total period of service.

At the same time, while serving their sentence in a special battalion, convicts retain the status of military personnel and wear the shoulder straps of privates.

They are sent to disbats for various criminal acts against the service: theft, hazing, etc. In accordance with the norms of current legislation, the maximum term of serving a sentence in disbat is 2 years. In most cases, depending on the severity of the crime, the military court imposes a sentence of 6 to 18 months.

New convicts arriving at the disbat are required to undergo quarantine upon arrival. Then they undergo a month of intensive drill training, and only after passing these stages the convicts are assigned to companies.

Mode of serving a sentence in disbat

In addition to daily strict drill training and strict adherence to the regulations, there are also many restrictions and prohibitions in force in special battalions. For example, meetings with relatives and friends are carried out according to a set schedule, and such meetings last only a few hours. All meetings with relatives take place under the supervision of a convoy or controllers.

As a rule, transfers from relatives are not allowed. It is strictly forbidden to bring tea or coffee, as well as alcoholic drinks, into the area. Prohibitions also apply to stationery. Thus, in most disbats, convicts are allowed to have one ballpoint pen and two refills, two notebooks and no more than ten envelopes.

From the group of reforming convicts who are distinguished by good behavior, they can be sent for parole.

The disciplinary battalion is not a zone or a prison in the direct sense, but it is characterized by the presence of most of the attributes of captivity and imprisonment. Some convicts attempt to escape, but such attempts in most cases end in failure. If they cross the border of a zone or restricted area, such fugitives are caught, after which the sentence served is added for such offenses.

Serving a term in disbat is not recorded in the personal file as a criminal record, and therefore is not taken into account during the period of military service. Therefore, most convicts return to their units to complete their period of military service. In some cases, for excellent behavior, the period of serving in the disbat is counted towards the service life. Ordinary convicts from the rotating composition are transferred to the reserve from the disbat; they receive the nicknames of “ringers.”

End of sentence in disbat

Previously, after the end of their sentence, soldiers received money and traveled under their own power to their units to complete their military service. However, often during the move they committed new criminal acts due to various circumstances. Therefore in last years released convicts from a special battalion are sent to a unit exclusively under the supervision of a supervising officer or warrant officer.

Often this wait is prolonged due to the lack of responsible employees for supervision or funds for business trips. Also, military units may be located in the Far North, from where it takes too long to get there, as a result of which convicts often overstay their sentence.

In the special battalion, the movement of convicts and communication between them is limited. For example, it is strictly forbidden to communicate with convicts from other units. Based on this principle, convicts who received punishment for committing one crime and accomplice are distributed into different units. During the entire period of serving their sentence, they do not have the right to exchange even a few words. For violating this rule, they face disciplinary action, and punishment in the form of a guardhouse located on the territory of a special battalion is also often applied.

Video about the disciplinary battalion

In most cases, before being sent to disbat, convicts serve a certain amount of time in a pre-trial detention center. Therefore, they often adopt not only the manner of speaking, but also the criminal experience from the inmates in the detention center. After serving their sentence in the disbat, convicts are sent to serve out their term in the army.

Recently, FACTS published material about how two prisoners from the guardhouse of the disciplinary military unit A-0488, stationed in the capital, took a sentry hostage, took away his machine gun, and held him all night until Alpha intervened. in the tension of father-commanders. The terrorists explained to the investigation that the guardhouse sergeants brutally beat them, and after one of the prisoners, trying to commit suicide, cut his wrists, he was handcuffed to the door.

Did the defendants tell the truth? Could similar things happen in a unit where, it would seem, discipline should be especially strong?

A young man came to the editorial office of FACTS, who, according to him, served a sentence in the disbat for a year and a half and was released in 1997. He asked that his name not be used in the publication.

In the disbat you asked the soldiers how they were living. They told how they marched in formation, worked, and re-educated. So - all this is window dressing, for the press. Neither the privates in a military unit, nor the cadets at a military school will ever tell a journalist the truth! If any of them opens their mouth, they will be beaten for the rest of their lives.

I won’t say why I ended up in disbat; I’ve already served my time. Before that he was a cadet at a military school. After the trial, they brought me to the disciplinary battalion. It was Friday the 13th. Immediately at the checkpoint I got punched in the face so that I wouldn’t think I was too tough. And he ended up in quarantine, where he stayed for a couple of weeks, waiting in horror for the day of assignment to the company. During this time, I lost probably five kilograms - out of fear.

What were the reasons for such panic fear?

After new recruits arrive in the company, the thieves begin to determine who you are: “the devil,” “the man,” or “the thieves.” These concepts came into the disbat from the “maloletki” (colony for juvenile delinquents). There are fewer "thieves" out there. There are a lot of “Chertuganov”, but even more are needed to work and serve everyone else. The “definition” began after lights out. They beat me all evening and all night. There were four of us newbies. Two broke at once. My friend lost consciousness and they didn’t beat him anymore. I held on until the end, and in the morning I could not get up - my whole chest was blue-violet, as if a shell had hit it, and my nose turned into a bloody mess. But he deserved the title of “man.”

Please tell us more about this “hierarchical ladder”.

Among the four disbat companies, only one is subject to the officer's regulations. The rest are under criminal conditions. In each company there are three or four thieves who have been through a juvenile colony or an adult prison. They stick together as a “family” and enjoy unlimited influence. “Men” live on their own and do not serve anyone. Sometimes a position is bought for oneself with money. Each criminal has two or three “shnyryas” - those who wash and iron him, polish his boots until they shine. They are proud that they are close to the thieves. And there are also those who are omitted - one or two in a company. These are "blue". The rest are afraid to even touch them. They have separate wash basins and toilet stalls. If you go there, consider yourself like that. I'll tell you a story. A “blue” got into the company, no one knew about it, and he did not show himself in any way. Lived like a normal person. I left the company, and suddenly a “malyava” (letter) came from freedom to the boss: “Who was in your company? It’s a cock, lowered.” The whole company, including the boss, ate soap after that.

To remove the shame from yourself. The rule is stupid, in general...

Did you eat a lot?

Well, one piece at a time. The godfather, however, only licked it.

Kindergarten!

The thug's rosary is twisted; if it falls, it is considered “finished” and cannot be lifted from the floor. Unless he picks up the last “pin” to throw it away. And if someone raised it, they will give him a freebie. They will hit you hard in the shoulder or chest.

In heart?

This is how it is done in the army. There was a guy sitting with me in the guardhouse. He was already a “grandfather” and hit the “spirit” (a soldier in his first year of service. - Author) so hard that his heart stopped. They gave “grandfather” five years.

After “fighting off” do they end up in the hospital?

Was with us former boxer named Tyson. He hit the soldier so hard that his spleen ruptured. We managed to take him to the hospital. And they “beat off” another one - they hit him in the chest, and he fell on the back of the bed with his head. And he died.

“The ensign’s special baton tore out a piece of skin from the person being beaten.”

Have there been any suicides?

The guys cut their wrists. One hanged himself. While they were carrying him on a stretcher to the medical unit, the corpse... raised his hand - the muscles began to contract. Those who carried him fell unconscious.

Are there ways to get out of the disbat without serving until the end of the term?

You wrote about an escape attempt, when one fugitive was shot from a guard tower, two were detained on the territory of the disbat, and another managed to escape. Another guy was about to escape through a sewer hatch in the dining room, got stuck in a pipe and almost suffocated. They barely dragged him out of there by his feet. There is another way out - commissioning. To do this, you need to go to the hospital, and then it’s a matter of technique: you pay the doctors one hundred or three hundred dollars and they’ll give you a commission. But getting to the hospital is difficult. Even with enuresis.

How are such soldiers treated?

They beat me, of course. And if they suddenly suspect that he is mowing, just hold on! Oh, they don't like that in the army. It is believed: got in, serve, gain respect.

And how to do this?

Of course, you can't win respect with work. Some openly suck up to thieves, others pay. Basically, disobedience and rebellion against officers are valued. But the command of the unit is fighting the rebels, putting them in the guardhouse. It is not easy to stay there for ten days - it is so cold in autumn and winter that the prisoner constantly runs in circles to keep warm. Only one chamber is more or less warm, where the pipe from the boiler room passes. To train particularly violent ones, knee-deep water and bleach are poured into a concrete bag. This is called a "gas chamber". After this, anyone will agree to anything!

Are prisoners handcuffed to the wall?

Easily! And they hang you up and beat you. I wonder if the warrant officer (gives his last name) who was in charge of the guardhouse when I was in the disbat is still serving? He had a special rubber baton that stretched upon impact and tore out a piece of skin. The ensign often practiced in this way. Of course, for officers, service in the disbat is exile. I accidentally saw the cases of two of our officers who came to us for official inconsistency. But almost all of them become sadists in one way or another.

The godfather yelled at the cooks: “What are you giving me? I don’t like soup without water in it!”

When we arrived at the unit, lunch in the canteen was quite decent: pea soup, pasta with meat and pancakes with compote. The convict cooks said that “this happens every day.” This is true?

I repeat: who will tell you the truth? You walk around hungry all day with one thought - about food. You wake up in the morning and dream: “I’m going to breakfast, let’s eat. What happiness!” You come back from breakfast - what you ate, what you listened to the radio. At work you think: “It’s almost lunch, maybe we’ll get some food.” No, the same thing - thin soup and a few spoons of porridge. Life is completely different for thieves. There is such a thing as “fitting”. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the cooks “prescribe” normal food to the thieves on a special, separate table: meat, dumplings, dumplings. In the evenings they bake cakes for them. I remember how the godfather once yelled at the cooks: “What are you giving me? I don’t like soup without water in it.” They were so afraid of him that they only put meat and potatoes on the plate. These cooks are the most unfortunate people in the disbat, although sometimes they can throw themselves an extra piece. They know: if they don’t please you in some way, there will be a “killing” in the evening.

Yes, we arrived an hour and a half before lunch. They wouldn't have had time to prepare so quickly...

A disciplinary battalion is an army within an army. When big bosses suddenly show up for an inspection, they will do everything possible to make the inspectors gasp.

“I don’t regret that I passed the disbat”

If there is no officer in the company in the evening, “balloons” are placed at the windows and doors to monitor the routes of approach to the barracks. Lists of “sharoviks” are available in each company. The senior “sharovik” is the head of the so-called guard, which includes “devils” and recently arrived “men”. You must stand on guard so carefully that it is not noticeable from the outside. Almost anything - the “balls” immediately transmit: “The officer on duty has entered the zone ... “It will reach the farmer - and feedback: “Watch where it goes... ““Here he goes!” Everyone quickly manages to lie down in bed. One day the “sharovik” barked: “Lieutenant Colonel so-and-so is coming to our company.” And he heard. And he punished the entire company - on Sunday he sent them to drill. If you miss the balls, they will hit you. I also stood “on guard” for three months.

During the showdown, the thieves and the guilty go to the utility room, where there is a toilet and washbasin. After lights out, you can only move along the aisle between the beds by crawling. Spotlights from the guard towers shine directly into the windows of the barracks. If the sentry notices that someone is moving inside, he will immediately raise the alarm.

And the thieves move at a crawl?

They leave before lights out. If there is no one to punish, they simply wash, smoke, and tattoo themselves with an ordinary electric razor with a needle attached to it. Of course, it hurts, then there are suppurations... But they are thieves, they need tattoos! During the morning inspection, the officer looks to see if anyone has any fresh tattoos or bruises. The thieves are interested in ensuring that no one gets bruises, otherwise the whole company will suffer, and they too. That's why they hide the beaten man. When, after identification, my chest was a solid bruise for a week, none of the officers “saw” me.

What kind of relationship exists between officers and thieves?

Throughout the army, officers turn a blind eye to hazing. It's convenient for them. The commander may not appear in the company, but order will be maintained there. They put pressure on thieves only for show. In fact, there is a truce between them. I remember that the boss of the entire zone was locked up in the guardhouse for some offense. The zone was in revolt - the officers were afraid to even enter the territory. And the godfather was released.

What year of school did you get there from?

From the third. In fact, cadets rarely end up in disbat. But, to be honest, I don’t regret that it happened this way. There I realized that I was worth something. Now I have no criminal record, I found a good job. But the main thing is that I am not afraid of anything or anyone in life.

“What prompted the former disbat member to make dubious revelations - one can only guess”

After a conversation with a former convict of the disbat, we considered it necessary to consult with an officer who, after serving for many years in the disciplinary battalion, retired and now has nothing to do with the Armed Forces.

About the “gas” chambers in the guardhouse - incredible nonsense. And the ensign (he gives the same last name) did not have a rubber baton. Although he is a tough person, it is true. There were riots, an officer was even taken hostage. But then we managed to suppress the emergency on our own. There were also escapes. The last one in my memory was when the officer on duty himself, having drunk vodka with four convicts at night, took them out of the gate. He was then sentenced to four years. We fought fiercely with such a phenomenon as “lowered” - we mixed the bowls on the tables, and turned off the water in the washbasins, except for one, and let everyone into the toilet blindfolded, so that they would not see who went into which stall. “Determinations” happened, although the Transcaucasians (now there are no longer any of them in our army) knew how to come to each other’s rescue in such cases, and the Slavic brothers thrashed each other with joy. But it was impossible for the officer not to notice the bruises during the morning check.

The commander’s press secretary also commented on the story of the former disbat member Ground forces Ukrainian Major Alexander Naumenko:

Not a single journalist has ever been refused entry to a disciplinary unit. A sane person should understand: if the leadership of the Ministry of Defense had the slightest doubt about the order in this part, then the journalist would not have set foot there. Yes, incidents do occur, but they are immediately stopped by the convicts themselves or the sergeants, and the perpetrators are punished in accordance with the regulations. There are fairy tales about dumplings and dumplings for farmers. And “horror films” with corpses coming to life and sadistic officers are not serious. I have been serving for 18 years and have never heard anything like this - although, fortunately, I was not in the disbat. One can only guess what prompted the former disbat member to make dubious revelations. But throwing a stone at the structure that helped you correct yourself and start new life, - at least dishonestly.

The commander of the disciplinary unit, Colonel Andrei Shander, put an end to this story:

What this guy talked about may have happened once, but not with me. And I have been serving here for three years. The country is changing for the better, and so is our part.

Once again, at the invitation of the Ministry of Defense Press Club, which regularly organizes press tours for bloggers, I went to study military life from the inside. This time the unit was not quite ordinary - the 28th separate DISCIPLINARY BATTALION in Mulino.

My dad, who served in the army in the 80s, said that soldiers were always afraid of disbats like fire. There was an opinion: a zone is better than a disbat. So I went to the unit in advance full of sympathy and compassion for the guys who found themselves in inhumane conditions. Now I can tell everyone frankly: there are no “inhuman” conditions, no one is torturing anyone. Discipline, a strict daily routine, work and an almost complete lack of free time - that, in fact, is all that distinguishes a disbat from an ordinary military unit.

And regarding the comparison with the zone: only 5% of the guys who served their sentences in the disbat subsequently commit crimes. I think we all realize that the percentage of those released from prison who re-offend is very high.

Why do they end up in disbat?

First of all, I was interested in the fate of the people who ended up in the disciplinary battalion. Who, why, for what term was sentenced, admits guilt or not, etc. Thank you to the unit’s leadership for permission to ask questions and talk with any of the soldiers, including the new arrivals.

This is Egor, he is 21 years old. He served in Tver in the air force. In the 7th month of service, I had an argument with a guy from the new conscription and hit him.
I ask: why did you do this?
“I wanted to show that I am better. Now, of course, I understand that I was wrong, but nothing can be corrected.”
For bruising a colleague, Egor will serve 8 months in the disbat. I don’t know whether he’s sincere or not, but he says that the conditions are normal, not much different from the army, “only they’re watching us seriously.”
“Here I became calmer. I realized that it is impossible to cause pain. Moreover, it is not worth losing 8 months of freedom. When I return home, I dream of going to university, studying to become a psychologist.”


Sergei has a different story. He just arrived at the unit and was sentenced to 10 months. He probably won’t admit his guilt, and he certainly didn’t expect to be punished for disobeying orders. But in vain...

Extract from the verdict (photo below):

“At about 11 p.m. on January 4, 2011, Private Grigoriev, being an orderly for the unit... in the barracks, without good reason and acting deliberately, evading a number of duties of military service and wanting to create easier conditions for himself to perform it,... openly and demonstratively refused to carry out the oral order of the duty officer for a given military unit to clean the barracks premises assigned to the orderly in the company..."


Well, there are many more stories that could be told, but they are all similar: failure to follow orders, leaving a unit without permission, not returning from dismissal, beating up a co-worker... I really feel sorry for them, but then you understand: they are being disbatted for a cause, and he’s right a unit commander who does not cover hazing among soldiers.

The number of people serving sentences in the disbat is not growing: now there are 200 people there (for comparison, in 2004 there were more than 700). This makes me happy =)

What do soldiers do in the disbat?

Disbat is, first of all, discipline. The daily routine is as follows:

6.30 - rise
6.40 - control formation on the parade ground
50 minutes charging
Then the morning toilet, making the bed
8.20 - breakfast
9.00 - formation, flag raising
9.10 - 13.50 - training sessions for persons in quarantine (those who are here for no more than 2 weeks)
The rest are engaged in socially useful work at this time, working in a reinforced concrete workshop (photos will be below)
14.00 - lunch. Then personal time.
16.00 - control formation
until 17.50 - classes and socially useful work
18.00 - 18.50 - those who are in quarantine undergo a daily medical examination for the presence of bruises and marks from beatings (according to the command of the unit, this is nonsense in the disbat, but these are the rules)
19.20 - 19.50 - dinner
Then personal time
21.50 - formation and evening walk (20 minutes)

Work in a reinforced concrete workshop. The proceeds from the sold products go to the account of the part. The work is VERY difficult, but the education of fighters is possible exclusively through work, and nothing else. You have to work.

And this is lunch:


The food is good. Soup, buckwheat with chicken, vegetable salad, fruit drink. And about. The unit commander gave his word that this was not a show and this is the way the guys eat every day.

“Let’s go see our poodles and lap dogs,” they told us, and off we went. Cute doggies))

I had to stand aside, because I was very embarrassed by this huge dog, shaking the bars and howling heartbreakingly, and especially embarrassed by the soldier who was holding the shaky lock on the door of the enclosure with his hand. Then we were told that 3 years ago the convict tried to escape. It was the dogs that detained him. 16 bites + crossfire on the legs from the guards. No one else tried to escape.


Demonstration performances

The results are as follows

I didn’t have time to ask a lot, time was very limited, for example, how does one serve in a guard company (these are ordinary conscripts).

For those who came here not by chance, but for a reason, it’s hard not so much physically as mentally. Barbed wire, 2 security systems, dogs also guard the area at night. Every two hours - building and checking the composition. The terms are quite long - from 3 months to 2 years. At the end of his term, the guy is sent to serve in the army, only in a different unit. Meetings with relatives are allowed (4 times a year), but only with the closest ones - parents, brothers, sisters and wives. One parcel per month is also allowed, but the list of items is strictly limited.

But if there weren’t such units (and we now have two disbats - in Mulino and in Chita), many would go to serve time behind bars.

Conclusion: if you serve, take the army seriously. Respect the rules and your colleagues. Although I didn’t see any horrors in the disbat, I don’t recommend going there.

Heading: Karamzin N.M.
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