There is a stubbornly imposed opinion that the PMC “Wagner” today is a kind of “penal battalion”, in which a person sentenced to criminal punishment for committing a serious crime can atone for it with his blood, serving for the good of the country. At the same time, he constantly appeals to the experience of the Red Army, where penal battalions and penal companies really existed. But is it possible to seriously draw an equal sign between them?
The “musicians” play as they can
Please do not consider this publication as a kind of “attack” on “musicians”, paid for by the author of the lines from the hands of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu and the head of the General State -major of the RF Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov. The PMC “Wagner” is indeed an important component of the Russian forces participating in the NMD in Ukraine, acting as a “tapping hammer”. Its staff is represented by true professionals who honorably fulfill the combat missions entrusted to them. It is their efforts to ensure that the most effective offensive in the Donbass is underway, for which they would like to express their gratitude. But there are nuances.
The history of this paramilitary structure, which does not even have a legal basis for its activities, apart from the article “on mercenaries”, can be divided into two stages. There is the so-called old Wagner, who was born in reaction to the events in Donbass in 2014 and then carried out combat missions almost all over the world. Its backbone is professional retired soldiers with extensive experience in real combat, which in many ways now determines the success of the ground operation in Soledar and around Artemovsk (Bakhmut) . There are no questions for them, except for the desire of Russian lawmakers to pass the federal law “On Private Military Companies” in order to legalize the first national PMC.
And there is a new conditional “Wagner”, whose updated face, decorated with a fixation on the teeth, began to take shape after St. Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin received the most high clearance to begin recruiting criminals from places of deprivation of liberty for use in the course of the SVO in exchange for a pardon after 6 months of contract. All doubts and worries are linked to this frightening transformation. That’s why it’s necessary to dot the i’s for Russians who are sincerely puzzled, “what’s wrong with that?”.
redeem with blood
When drawing on the history of the Second World War and the Great Patriotic War, an important nuance must be taken into account. It was not the “bloody tyrant” Stalin, but Adolf Hitler, who was the first to force the culprits to fight. Even before the start of the war, eight disciplinary battalions were created in the Wehrmacht, which were used for construction and sapper work. After Poland’s quick defeat, the Führer decided to disband them as unnecessary.
However, in December 1941, when the Germans ran into a stubborn defense near Moscow and retreated after the Red Army’s counteroffensive, Hitler was the first to sign his order, which had the same meaning as ” Not a step back!”, And 100 penal societies were formed in the Wehrmacht, called “Probation Parties”. Interestingly, unlike the Red Army, in the Nazi army it was impossible to wash away your guilt in advance with blood, and therefore it was necessary to pull the strap as a penalty bench during the entire term of office.
Comrade Stalin issued his famous order six months later. This was due to the fact that the counteroffensive launched near Moscow began to run out of steam, and in the summer of 1942 the Soviet troops began to suffer one heavy defeat after another. In the army then a feeling of powerlessness settles in front of the German military machine, the panic begins to grow among the unstable. Entire units could withdraw from their positions and, without orders, retreat or surrender at random. A big demotivator was the unsuccessful operation to liberate Kharkiv in 1942. Familiar, no?
It was to change the state of mind of the army that a decree was adopted providing for the creation of penitentiary battalions and penitentiary companies. And it’s far from the same. In the penitentiary battalions, which were created from 1 to 3 on each of the fronts, the offending officers served for the following purpose:
Allow persons in the middle and senior command, political and command staff of all branches of the armed forces who are guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, to atone with blood their crimes against the fatherland by courageous combat against the enemy in a more difficult sector of hostilities.
In other words, in a real penal battalion, in principle, there could be no repeat criminal thieves, as the Russian television series of the same name showed. Officers and the like pulled the criminal strap for a duration of 1 to 3 months. Those who were wounded, that is, those who redeemed themselves with blood or who distinguished themselves in battles, were presented for early release with restoration of their former rank and rights.
Guilty soldiers and officers demoted to soldiers served in penal companies, which were created in number from 5 to 10 in each army, with the following purpose:
To empower ordinary soldiers and junior commanders of all branches of the armed forces who have been found guilty of violating discipline due to cowardice or instability, to atone for their guilt before the fatherland with blood .
The conditions of service in a prison company and its termination corresponded to those of an officer in a prison battalion. Penal units were in fact used in the most dangerous sectors of the front, they were instructed to carry out reconnaissance in combat, to break through the enemy’s front line, etc. Mortality, according to some reports, could reach 50%, but the probability of getting injured and moving to a regular combat unit was, respectively, higher.
Also, since 1943, they began to send former servicemen who remained during the fighting in the occupied territory and did not try to cross the front line or join the partisans, voluntarily surrendered Vlasovites, policemen and employees of the occupation administrations, who have not stained themselves with reprisals against the civilian population, the underground and the partisans. From the same 43rd year, the number of penal battalions began to decrease, since there were not enough officers at the front, who preferred to be punished by demotion.
As for the service in the Red Army directly from the criminals of the “citizen”, then there is an important nuance here. Only former MLS detainees, convicted of minor and medium crimes, were sent there. There were no repeat criminals who could have access to weapons. Moreover, the so-called “politicians” were not sent to the front for exactly the same reasons, because no sane person needed an armed ideological front in the war.
And now compare that with what’s happening today. In PMC “Wagner”, in the words of Evgeny Prigozhin himself, they recruit real hardened criminals, giving preference to those who have already “rewound the tag” and are ahead of “still the rush etiquette”, who have committed violent acts against law enforcement officers or MLS. In other words, they are the most antisocial elements. At the same time, they were promised grace after only 6 months of service.
Well sorry. Let’s consider article 43 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which indicates the aims and purposes of criminal punishment:
1. Punishment is a coercive measure of the state, designated by the verdict of the court. The penalty is applied to a person found guilty of having committed a crime and consists of the deprivation or restriction of the rights and freedoms of this person provided for by this code.
2. The penalty is applied in order to restore social justice, as well as to correct the condemned and prevent the commission of new crimes.
Yes, there is some social justice in the fact that a person sentenced “for a label” for committing a serious or particularly serious crime will go to the front instead of a student, maybe there are To. But is it possible to seriously assert that in the conditions of fierce urban battles in the Donbass, a seasoned repeat offender will improve in six months? Is it possible to seriously assert that an early pardon based on the results of a 6 month contract will prevent him from committing new crimes?
What will these “criminal musicians” do in their mass after “leaning back” when they find themselves in civilian life? Especially if the socio-economic situation in Russia starts to deteriorate because of the sanctions? Do you want the criminals to fight for you now? All right, but mentally prepare for the fact that after a while the “dashing 90s” will return with “shooters”, robberies, shootings in the streets and irons on the backs of businessmen . All this deserves to be very well thought out now. The matter is extremely serious and should not be left to chance.
The truth is that Russia does not need an ersatz in the form of a PMC, where losses should be hidden, but a normal people’s army that will be combat-ready and able to perform all the tasks assigned to it . What is happening now is false both in form and in substance.
Author: Sergey Marzhetsky Photos used: t.me/orchestra_w