All about the disbat (disciplinary battalion). Why do they end up in the army and how many of them are there in Russia? Information about the addresses of these institutions and their photos. What is disbat in the army
A disciplinary battalion - disbat, or as soldiers also call it "diesel" - is a specialized military unit where privates who have committed serious offenses while serving in the ranks of the military are sent.
Disbat in the army is a unit formed to serve the punishment of soldiers, which was awarded by high-ranking managers for committing offenses. They can be varied, but mostly they are criminal offenses. Also, the disciplinary battalion is intended to house cadets from military schools or universities until they are awarded the ranks of privates in the ranks of the Russian troops.
Why do you get caught?
The reason for the creation of such units is due to the fact that during the service, some privates commit crimes for which they need to answer. It is provided that this period of time is not deducted from the year of service, with some exceptions, which are provided by the commander of the military forces of the locality where the private is serving. Consequently, after the end of the sentence, the soldier goes on to serve in those legal weeks or days that remain.
Reasons why employees may be sent to serve time:
- if the military court has rendered a verdict regarding which the soldier must be punished;
- if a private has committed a crime that will be criminally punishable.
In the event that a soldier served his sentence from beginning to end and was released to finish his service, there will be no documentary evidence that he committed a criminal offense.
The verdict that decides the fate of the offender can only be rendered by a military court. The disciplinary battalion can include soldiers whose offenses are not considered serious and cannot be punished for more than two years. The most common crimes committed by those liable for military service are desertion or hazing towards other soldiers.
By the way, in disbat in the army they do not live according to the regulations of the Criminal Procedure Code, but adhere to the general military regulations. After serving the sentence, the person liable for military service must serve the remaining term of service in his unit. Only if the above points are met, the employee receives his documents back, without a record of his offense.
The differences between a disciplinary battalion and a regular military unit are as follows:
- unquestioning obedience to the charter;
- an extremely clear and strictly planned day;
- It is unacceptable to have dismissals.
Soldiers entering disciplinary units most often perform assignments and housework.
Features of the penal battalion
The formed disciplinary battalions are designed for 350 criminals. All the details of their stay and punishment are described in the document of the Government of the then USSR, the Russian Federation, signed on the 4th of June 1997 - No. 669, as well as by Order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation No. 302 dated July 29 of the same year.
The previously mentioned requirements are based on this document. For example, exclusions from the period of service of the period of service. If a soldier needs to record it as time served, it is recommended to send a petition to the command of the military unit to the main military representative of the area where the army and unit are located. The petition must indicate the reason why the soldier needs this decision and a request to count the time spent in the disciplinary battalion during his service period.
If the commander-in-chief approves the petition, the soldier, even if he is in a special forces battalion, is not deprived of his rank as a military man and still wears the shoulder straps of a private. After completing a third of the punishment, if the soldier has distinguished himself by exemplary behavior, he can be reassigned to a correctional unit. Moreover, he may have the opportunity to serve as a worker or to perform the duties of a worker outside of military service. Also, the execution of the decision can occur under the supervision of a convoy or without it.
The length of stay in the disbat is most often no more than twenty-four months. The reason for this may be: theft, hazing. In most cases, the soldier is sent to a disciplinary battalion for a period of 5 to 17 months.
When new soldiers arrive at a disciplinary battalion, they are required to undergo quarantine. After this, they are given 30 days of intensive training. If they pass, their distribution among companies is then considered.
Mode
As mentioned earlier, the special battalion has a strict daily routine with all the ensuing prohibitions. Meetings with loved ones are strictly limited and scheduled according to a specific schedule. They are designed only for a short time, most often from two to three hours, while this procedure will be monitored by a convoy.
All transfers from relatives, with only a few exceptions, are prohibited. There is no place for coffee, tea, and especially alcohol in disbat. No less strict prohibitions regarding stationery. The convicted person has the right to hold only one pen, two rods and no more than nine envelopes.
Disciplinary battalions should not be perceived as a place of imprisonment. However, in this place there are elements of the zone. Escape attempts were made repeatedly, however, they did not lead to anything good, but only to additional time being added to the prison term.
If the convicts behaved exemplarily, they may be given the privilege of deducting this time from their service life. Many try to show their best side in order to get out of the disbat as soon as possible.
End of punishment
Until recently, when a serviceman served his sentence, he was squeezed out of money and sent back to the unit where he completed his term of service. But during the Soviet era, it often happened that these citizens committed crimes on the way back, as a result of which the commanders-in-chief came to the conclusion that they needed to be accompanied upon departure. But due to the fact that such responsible persons who are ready for this are rarely found, sending them back may take some time.
During the disbat, communication between convicts and their movement are not allowed. In this regard, people who have committed a similar offense or accomplices should be distributed to different units. During the entire period of serving their sentence, they often do not even get to see each other. If they violate this rule, they will certainly be punished in the form of a guardhouse.
Most often, before entering a disciplinary battalion, soldiers stay in a pre-trial detention center. This leads to the fact that young men adopt the behavior of those who are already serving a sentence, which can lead to disastrous changes in their character and, as is understandable, unhappy consequences. After their release, their lives change and more detailed information about this can be found in numerous videos on the Internet.
Disciplinary battalions (disbats, or as they are also called by conscript soldiers, “diesels”) are specialized military units to which privates who have committed serious offenses while serving in the Armed Forces are sent. Offenses can vary widely, but they are mostly criminal offences. In addition, disciplinary battalions are intended to house cadets from military schools or institutes with a military focus until they are awarded the rank of private in the Russian army.
From the history of disbats
In accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, ordinary military personnel, as well as junior commanding officers, were sent to separate disciplinary battalions. The military tribunal sentenced them to imprisonment for terms ranging from six months to two years, most often for unauthorized absence. Subsequently, the practice was to replace imprisonment with terms of up to two years, with the transfer to separate disciplinary battalions of those military personnel who had committed ordinary crimes with insignificant public danger. As soon as the Great Patriotic War began, most of the individual disciplinary battalions (except those stationed in the eastern regions of the Soviet Union) were disbanded. The servicemen serving their sentences in them were sent to the front line and enrolled in ordinary military or penal units - this depended on the severity of the crimes committed.
At the end of the summer of 1942, in accordance with Order No. 227 (popularly referred to as “Not a Step Back”), it was decided to create front-line penal battalions for command personnel, as well as army penal companies for Red Army sergeants and petty officers.
According to the combat schedule of penal units and units of the Red Army in 1942-1945, there were more than 50 penal battalions and more than 1000 penal companies. In the post-war period, most of these units and units were disbanded or reformed. This is how the first disciplinary battalions were created, which were able to survive under this name after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the armed forces of the CIS countries. Similar units have been retained by the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, as well as some other states.
Disciplinary battalions are present in all districts and in the Naval Forces. Military personnel in such units are divided into “permanent” personnel (those undergoing active military service by conscription or contract, occupying command positions, ranging from squad commander to battalion commander); as well as a “variable” composition, which are the convicts. For military personnel holding officer positions, military ranks may be assigned one step higher than those provided for in similar combined arms units and units. Thus, a platoon commander can be a captain, a company commander can be a major, and a battalion (disbat) commander can be a serviceman with the military rank of colonel. Military personnel sent to disciplinary battalions, in accordance with the decision of the military tribunal, are deprived of their military ranks, which can be restored after the end of the sentence (or in connection with release on parole) in cases where the convicts were not deprived of them during the sentencing process.
Reasons for sending to disbat
Nowadays, some conscripts commit crimes for which they have to answer in any case. They are sent to disbat, without losing their term of service, not counting some exceptions that are provided for and are in the power of the commander of the military district. Thus, at the end of the sentence, military personnel are sent for further service to their units and units in order to serve out the remaining time.
There is only one reason why military personnel end up in disciplinary battalions to serve their sentences: a criminal offense has been committed, and a military court has issued a corresponding verdict.
If a serviceman has fully served his sentence and is released to complete his service, documentary evidence that he has committed criminal offenses is not provided.
Sentences that will decide the future fate of offenders can only be passed by military courts. Military personnel whose offenses are not considered serious and do not entail punishment for more than two years can be included in disciplinary battalions. The most common crimes committed by military personnel are “AWOLs” or so-called “hazing.”
Disbat differs from prison in that convicts are held there not in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code, but in accordance with general military regulations.
The differences between disciplinary battalions and regular military units are as follows:
- Unquestioning obedience to general military regulations;
- Extremely strict planning of the day;
- No layoffs.
Military personnel who find themselves in disbats are mainly engaged in performing chores.
Features of the penal battalion
The disciplinary battalion contains up to 350 soldiers. The regime of their detention and punishment is described in special documentation dating back to the times of the Soviet Union, supplemented in the Russian Federation since June 1997, as well as in the order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation dated July 29 of the same year.
At the end of one third of the sentence, if the soldiers have distinguished themselves by exemplary behavior, some of them may be offered reassignment to a detachment to correct them. In addition, they may be given the opportunity to serve on a daily basis or perform the duties of workers.
The length of stay in the disbat is mostly no more than 24 months, mainly due to theft and hazing. In most cases, soldiers are sent to a disciplinary battalion for a period of 5 to 17 months.
When new troops arrive at the disbat, they must be quarantined. These soldiers are then given 30 days of intensive training. After passing it, the process of distributing them to companies begins.
In disciplinary battalions, there is strict adherence to a daily routine, which has many restrictions. For example, visits with convicts are strictly regulated and take place according to a schedule. They can be short-term, no more than two or three hours, and only in the presence of guards.
Any transfers from relatives or friends, with minor exceptions, are prohibited. In addition, coffee, tea, and even more so alcohol are prohibited. The prohibitions also apply to stationery. Convicts are entitled to one pen with two refills and nine envelopes.
In disbat, convicts are prohibited from communicating with each other and moving freely. Military personnel who committed an offense with accomplices are distributed to different units. Moreover, they may not even see each other while serving the sentence. Violation of these rules entails punishment in the guardhouse.
Before arriving at disciplinary battalions, military personnel are kept in pre-trial detention centers. As a result, young people borrow the behavior of experienced prisoners with many “walks.” Such experience often leads to disastrous changes in the unformed psyche of soldiers.
It is clear that in such places escape attempts are not uncommon; there have even been riots in disbats. But this did not lead to anything good, but only ensured an increase in the term of serving. In cases where convicted soldiers were models of exemplary behavior, they received the privilege of deducting the time spent in disbat from their service life.
End of serving the sentence
Not so long ago, military personnel who served their terms were provided with money and sent back to their units to complete their military service. It often happened that they committed crimes along the way to the unit, so the command decided to provide them with escort. But due to the fact that it is not always possible to find accompanying persons quickly, the dispatch is often delayed.
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Special rules apply to military personnel, from working conditions to prosecution. The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for such a type of punishment as disbat. The decoding is simple: a disbat is a disciplinary battalion. Such formations still exist.
At the legislative level, serving a sentence is stipulated by the Criminal Code (Article 55), “Regulations on the disciplinary military unit” dated June 4, 1997 No. 669, and Order of the Minister of Defense dated October 20, 2016 No. 680.
What is disbat in the army
Disbat in the army is a place where military personnel are sent to serve their sentences if their “service record” includes a violation of the criminal legislation in force in Russia.
Such formations have been known since the times of the tsarist army, but in a form more or less familiar to us, they appeared in the USSR a year before the start of the Great Patriotic War. They were sent there for a period of six months to 2 years due to unauthorized absences from the unit’s locations. Subsequently, everyone who committed minor ordinary crimes was sent to such battalions. With the beginning of the war, these units ceased to exist, and penal units appeared in their place. Military personnel serving sentences in disbats at that time were sent to ordinary or penal units. Separate formations were created for commanders and rank and file.
After the end of the war, the penal units were eliminated, and they were again replaced by disciplinary battalions. They still exist not only in Russia, but also in the countries of the former Union and some CIS countries.
In essence, disbat replaces prison, but similar punishment is imposed in individual cases.
Differences between a guardhouse and a disciplinary battalion
Disciplinary arrest, which implies, is not assigned for crimes, but for gross violations of discipline only. Misdemeanors include hazing, AWOL on the part of conscripts, being late from dismissal, vacation or after discharge, and others.
Persons found guilty of committing a crime and convicted by a court are sent to the disbat. Such acts may include:
- failure to comply with an order;
- insult to a serviceman;
- resistance to a superior in rank and position, violent actions against him;
- AWOL;
- desertion;
- leaving a sinking ship;
- loss of property and similar cases provided for in Chapter 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Disbat and “lip” have significant differences. First of all, the basis for imposing punishment is a crime (disbat) and a disciplinary offense (guardhouse). The terms also differ: for disbat the limits range from 3 months to 2 years, arrest does not exceed 30 days.
Are these formations still in Russia?
Disciplinary battalions and units as a method of punishment still exist. It is known about 2 active disciplinary units:
- HF 12801 - 28 ODISB, located in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Mulino village;
- HF 44311 - 36 Odisb, Chita region, Chita-45, Kashtak-45.
Other units that included similar units were disbanded. It is possible that other parts with different numbers were created instead.
Thus, the correction of a convicted person in the form of his detention in a disciplinary military unit is still practiced: such punishment is provided for by legislative norms and the technical capabilities of the sentencing system.
Sending to a special unit is rarely used. For example, in 2014, 181 people were sent there, in 2015 - 191 perpetrators, in 2016 only 120 people were transferred. Statistics for the past year have not yet been compiled.
Grounds for enrollment in disbat
The main reason is a conviction for committing a criminal act. The Criminal Code has a separate chapter dedicated to military service. Among the crimes included in it are hazing, desertion, AWOL, failure to comply with an order, violation of the rules of guard and other service, abandonment of a sinking ship, violation of navigation rules and others.
Article 55 of the Criminal Code defines the conditions the presence of which excludes the possibility of not getting into disbat:
- undergoing military service;
- signing a contract and assigning a private or sergeant to a position, provided that the convict has not completed conscription service;
- The offense committed is qualified as a crime under Ch. 33 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
- in other cases when the crime and the personality of the convicted person make it possible to replace the punishment.
Officers in the relevant positions and contract soldiers who have served their military service are not subject to disbats.
Duration of service in a disciplinary battalion
The term of service in the disbat cannot be more than 2 years. The minimum stay period is 3 months.
Time served in special units as a punishment is not subject to inclusion in the service. The ratio between being in a disbat and being in civil colonies is accepted as 1:1 (a day in a disbat is equal to a day in a colony).
The procedure for keeping military personnel in OSDIB
The period of stay in a special unit is not included in the service, however, there are exceptions. To do this, the convicted person must master the specialty and successfully apply it in practice. Additionally, he should not be found to have violated discipline or the provisions of the statutes. For such military personnel, after release, an exception may be made (this is used quite rarely), and the sentence will be counted.
Modes
The peculiarity of this method of correction is that, regardless of previous achievements, the persons entering there are equal, since they are in the rank of soldiers or sailors. The dress code is also the same.
The daily routine is set by the commander. In general, it must correspond to the following figures: work and sleep - 8 hours each, military training is carried out once a week, 6 hours are allocated for it, meals - 3 times a day.
The rules by which the sentence is served, approved by the above-mentioned document No. 680, determine the list and number of things allowed for storage. These include: matches, cigarettes, soap, handkerchiefs, toothpaste and brush, razors, shaving cream, as well as shampoo, mirror, shoe polish, notebooks, fountain pens, pencils and some other things. Others not listed in the list must be confiscated by an official.
Convicts are entitled to visits: short-term - up to 4 hours twice a month, long-term (3 days) 4 times a year, but only with their wife or parents. A separate room is allocated for long visits, during which time the convicted person is relieved of his duties. The number of meetings with a lawyer is not limited. Any of the listed types of meetings can be optionally replaced by a telephone conversation.
Only one parcel can be sent per month; there are no restrictions on parcels received on dates and parcels. The contents are checked by an official; prohibited items are subject to seizure and storage until release. The list of permitted things is listed in Appendix No. 2 to the said order.
There are no restrictions on letters and telegrams, including sending and receiving them. All delivered correspondence is opened in the presence of a representative of the unit, prohibited items are confiscated. The contents of the letter remain confidential.
In exceptional circumstances, convicts are granted short-term leave of up to 7 days excluding travel, but this is most likely the exception rather than the rule.
Incentives and penalties
A conscientious attitude to duties and adherence to discipline are encouraged in various ways: with a gift, a cash bonus, the provision of additional visits, gratitude, and the removal of the imposed penalty. After 1/3 of the established period, it is possible to transfer to more lenient conditions, allowing the convict to move around the territory without an escort, spend an unlimited amount of money on food, and even go on dates outside the unit. In relation to particularly distinguished citizens, it is allowed to file a petition to commute the sentence.
As measures of negative impact for violation of order, a reprimand, a severe reprimand and arrest are used, and the replacement of lenient conditions with ordinary ones.
I visited where every soldier’s “horrible dream” is - where there are no smoke breaks, dismissals, smiles... There is only merciless, meaningless Discipline. He was lucky to get into the Mulino disbat. It was lucky that he ended up there as a correspondent. Below are his photographs and a story about the battalion, where a day consists of eight hours of drill exercises on the parade ground, eight hours of cramming the regulations or (for the lucky ones) hard physical labor in the reinforced concrete products workshop, and eight hours of sleep.We left just before dawn as a group of eight people for the so-called “press tour for bloggers.” Fortunately, we all turned out to be professional journalists, and the bloggers slept safely, so no one interfered with our work. But these are lyrics. And the practice was that after five hours of travel we parked at the checkpoint of military unit 12801. And then there are photos and a few captions under them.
The uniform is already outdated with “Convoy” stamps on the back and numbers on the chest and sleeves (company number). This is done to make it easier for guards to identify their charges. Always on duty. Drill training takes up a third of a day in the life of a convicted soldier in a disbat. The other two-thirds are divided between chores, study of the rules and sleep. The meaning is simple - a disciplinary battalion is not a prison, it is a military unit, the stay in which is intended to restore respect for discipline to the fallen soldier. And it takes root. Yesterday's rowdies and scumbags walk in line, shyly lowering their extinguished gaze. Strict adherence to the letter and spirit of the army regulations, even to the point of absurdity, is the most effective method. Those who have passed the disbat, according to statistics, then very rarely stumble - according to the deputy battalion commander, over the past year there have been only two requests from the court asking for characterizations of former local “pets”.
Arrival of the “young replenishment”. I would not dare to call this moment the most joyful in the life of Private S.G., although he, apparently, does not yet realize where he ended up. The political officer reads him an order to enroll in the third disciplinary company. Now he will have a few free minutes within ten months to reflect on whether it was worth refusing to clean the barracks, as all the orderlies who are on duty do. In disbat, the proudest horsemen plow like bees from morning to evening just to earn parole.
And this is the text of the verdict, if anyone is interested. 
And three more newcomers. The eyes are still sparkling, curiosity is still visible in them - after all, a new page in life. It would be better not to open it. But it's too late.
Muslim soldiers gathered for Friday prayers in a makeshift mosque set up at the club. People from the North Caucasus make up 42% of the contingent, and the mullah visits them every Friday.
In the wooden church of St. Sergius, built by the hands of the soldiers themselves, is also crowded: the priest talks about the life of the holy apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas. I have a strong suspicion that the priest was asked to come specifically on the occasion of our visit - a day, frankly, not a Sunday or a holiday. But the guys can break away from the mind-numbing routine at least for a few minutes.
They kissed the cross, returned to formation, and marched at a walking pace - in this part, movement can only be of two types: marching or running. There is no third.
Hozzona. Working in a concrete shop is a privilege and must be earned. And although the work is hard and monotonous, it allows you to at least partially break out of the vicious circle - drill, cleaning, drill, outfit, drill, cleaning...
Fences, barbed and cutting wires, prohibitions, machine gunners on towers, ferocious dogs - it’s almost impossible to escape. Although there were precedents. Many attempts ended very badly: the dogs know no mercy, and the sentries shoot to kill immediately after a warning shot.
The ration is ordinary, soldier's - in this the battalion is no different from any other unit. 
This part, unlike the others, is divided into two parts: one is normal, the second is behind the thorn and sluice doors. In the first there are security barracks, a “contingent” or “variable composition” also works there, but always under the supervision of four machine gunners. The cartridges in the horns are military, all for real.
In fact, from a purely external perspective, it all looks like an ordinary military unit, and to an outside observer it is not entirely clear what has inspired such horror in many generations of soldiers since the mid-19th century, when the first disbats appeared. In fact, probably only those who served can understand this. Remember the first two weeks of school? Endless drills, stops, wake-ups, “put aside - back to the starting point,” meaningless work to the point of complete exhaustion, drill in the cold or under the scorching sun and not a minute of personal time. So, here everything (and much worse) is ALWAYS, from the first to the last day. And no concessions ever. I understand perfectly well that they showed us a glossy picture - everything looks too correct and exemplary: this does not happen in life. I don’t know what happens in the barracks at night, when the bars to the sleeping compartment are closed - we must not forget that many of the local inhabitants managed to go through the pre-trial detention center and picked up the local traditions. The officers say nothing is going on, and maybe that's true, but I don't know.
There were 16 disbats in the Soviet Army, until recently there were 4 in the Russian Army, now there are two left - in Mulino, and in the Far East, in Ussuriysk. At the end of the year the question of their existence will be decided. Are they needed or not? The argument for this is that this is not a prison, and the convicted person’s criminal record is removed immediately upon completion of his sentence. The argument against it is that when switching to a one-year conscription period, many soldiers who have committed crimes simply do not have time to get here: their term of service expires before the end of the investigation and trial, and they automatically become “clients” of the ordinary criminal punishment system. That is why in the barracks designed for 800 people there are only 170, and this is from the entire European part of Russia.
My assessment: I am for a contract army, but while there is no such army, the military system of punishment is still effective.
And ideally, since military personnel are tried by a military court, then they should sit in military pre-trial detention centers and military prisons, as is the case, for example, in the States. Regardless of titles and ranks. Still, the army is too separate a structure. In 2002-2006 There was already an attempt to cancel the guardhouse, which eventually ended with its restoration. And I, who sat on the “lip” three times (though not for long), remember very well what an effective deterrent tool it was.
By the way, for especially talented representatives, the disbat has its own guardhouse. I can’t even imagine what awaits those who get there. It's probably better not to know.
OUR HELP
There were sixteen disciplinary battalions in the Soviet army. Now there are four of them: in Mulino, Novosibirsk, Chita and Rostov. In Ussuriysk there is a separate disciplinary company. The issue of disbanding and liquidating two disbats is being considered.The battalion in Mulino is considered the largest.
1999
under Article 335 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (hazing and abuse of power) - 32 percent of the total number of convicts
under Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (unauthorized abandonment of a unit) - 16 percent of the total number of convicts
year 2001
under Article 335 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - 26.5 percent of the total number of convicts
under Article 337 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - 28 percent of the total number of convicts
under Article 338 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (desertion) - of the total number of convicts 1.7 percent (9 people)
Currently, eight people are in detention for the second time: for leaving their unit without permission and for hazing.
Those who have served commit crimes:
from 1.5 to 2 years – 33 percent;
from 1 to 1.5 years – 23 percent;
1 year – 15 percent;
from 5 months to 1 year – 17 percent;
up to 6 months – 5 percent.
This military “zone” in the village of Mulino, Nizhny Novgorod region, is no different from other units that literally fill the local forests. The same gray reinforced concrete fence with guard towers around the perimeter. True, the territory is also separated from the outside world by a plowed control strip, simply a “ban”. Almost every day this strip is renewed by soldiers in the uniform of the 1943 model: a cap, a tunic with green shoulder straps “on a button” and riding breeches. As the disbat commander explained to me: “These are unconvoyed convicts who have no more than two months left before demobilization and release.”
A distinctive feature of the “zone” is an armed horse patrol that periodically circles it from the outside of the gray wall.
You can only enter the territory through the main checkpoint. Behind it is a small parade ground and a building with a sign: “Military unit headquarters...”. This is where the similarity with a regular military unit ends. A few meters later there is a small gray building, behind which is a completely ordinary door, a “local area” - a door made of metal rods. She is always under lock and key. The orderly unlocks it only by letting in newly arrived convicts and releasing the next ones who have “rewinded” their sentence. That’s why this contingent is called “variable composition” here. Security - military personnel from the so-called permanent composition, conscript soldiers. From among them, not only a guard is appointed, but also “controllers” who check the convicts before being sent to work and after returning. Permanent sergeants are assigned to assist the commanders of the five disciplinary companies.
Over six hundred pairs of soldiers' boots trample the parade ground from morning to evening. Movement on this asphalt square is permitted only by marching or running. The green mass of convicts sways. Haircuts and wartime uniforms put Marines and military construction workers, missilemen and sailors on an equal footing for the period determined by the verdict of a military court. And they all have the same dream: parole. Each of them has various crimes and sentences behind them. Some are serving time for theft, others for hazing. According to the law, the maximum term in disbat is two years. And so, depending on the severity of the crime committed, from six months to one and a half years. New arrivals - and every month up to a hundred convicts are admitted to the disbat - go through a quarantine department. After a month of intensive drill training, they are transferred to companies.
In addition to daily drills and life “according to the rules,” there are many restrictions and prohibitions. Thus, short-term visits with relatives are allowed: twice a month - up to four hours. You can spend three days with your parents only once every three months. For this purpose, there is a small hotel in the disbat. Although it has cozy rooms, they are guarded by the same “controller” soldiers. It is forbidden to bring tea, coffee, not to mention alcoholic beverages into the “zone” from a date. The restrictions even apply to writing instruments. According to the established rules, the convicted person has the right to bring into the “zone” one fountain pen and two refills, no more than two notebooks and ten envelopes. There are often cases when, after such meetings, a convict diagnosed with “severe overeating” ends up in a medical unit. Although the guys themselves admit that here they are “fed better than in their native part.” Sometimes parents, while dating, try to catch up on what they have lost in raising their son. One of the officers complained: “Okay, if the mother whips the careless child with a towel. Last year, one father, the chairman of a large breeding farm, had such an “educational conversation” with his son that he was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.”
Disbat, although not in the literal sense of a “zone,” but with all the attributes of bondage. Some are trying to escape. According to the deputy battalion commander, as a rule, such escapes end in failure. Some fugitives do not even go as far as being “banned.” Those who managed to cross the forbidden zone are found and given additional time.
True, one such escape did take place. Last August. Ironically, not without the help of my parents. During the meeting, the mother gave her son the tools, with which he sawed through the grating and climbed down from the second floor using tied sheets. For the disbat commander this is an emergency. That’s why he ordered the mother to be placed on the unit’s allowance and not to be released until the search for her son was completed... “Well, where will he run away? At one time, this soldier deserted from the unit. He was hiding with relatives in Kazakhstan. It doesn’t last a lifetime,” he concluded. “What about mother?” “I was indignant at the illegality of the detention and had to be released. But we have strong evidence that it was she who planned her son’s escape, for which she even hired a taxi in advance.”
Staying in a disbat is not recorded as a criminal record and, in theory, should not be counted toward the length of military service. Therefore, after release, many return to their units and serve. There are exceptions to the rules: for exemplary behavior, the term of imprisonment is counted. The rank and file of the variable composition are transferred to the reserve from the disbat. These people are called “ringers” here.
Previously, at the end of their term, soldiers were given money and travel documents, and they independently traveled to their units. However, there were cases when they committed new crimes along the way. Since 1997, soldiers released from disbat are sent to their unit only accompanied by an arriving officer or warrant officer. And sometimes you have to wait a long time for them. This is primarily due to the lack of money for business trips. In addition, the garrison may be located, for example, in the Far North. The undeveloped release mechanism leads to the fact that soldiers are forced to sit out their sentences. In my presence, they released a marine who had come here from the guard company of the ship “Peter the Great.” His term ended in April, and they came for him only at the beginning of June. The arriving warrant officer explained his delay by saying that all this time the ship had been on a military cruise.
Therefore, some, giving up their release, voluntarily enroll as “ringers” and remain to serve in the disbat. They are transferred to the administrative building - “to the point”. There is no longer the disbat drill; they live according to the usual routine.
And in the “zone” the routine is strict: eight hours of sleep, eight hours of drill training and eight hours of work. After dinner - one hour of rest. Saturday and Sunday are days off. These days the club shows films. Artists also come, mostly local amateur groups.
This year, four weddings took place here and two children were adopted. And no wonder. Every day at the checkpoint there is a flock of young girls who did not wait for their boyfriends from the army. Love is not love, but the father-commanders suspect that in this way some of their charges intend to be released and retire earlier. According to the law, the birth of a child gives the right to discharge from the armed forces.
Convicts who have served a third of their sentence are allowed to work in the industrial zone. In the carpentry shop they make gazebos and stools, and weave baskets. The "sewing shop" sews mittens and military bedside rugs. Small reinforced concrete structures are also made: rings for wells, foundation blocks. The disbat also has its own subsidiary farm: about a dozen cows, several dozen pigs, and chickens.
Soldiers' money, a little more than thirty rubles, is not handed out, but transferred to a bank account. After release, a financial settlement is made, and the serviceman receives about one hundred rubles and travel documents.
The barracks in the disbat are not much different from the usual ones. The same sleeping quarters. Only the windows have bars. Yes, in addition to the usual entrance doors to the company premises, an additional “local area” was installed, the keys to which are kept by the permanent sergeant. A convicted person can leave the premises only with his permission, having previously signed up in a special register.
Not only movement is limited, but also communication. For example, it is forbidden to communicate with convicts of another company. Guided by this, the “accomplices” are deliberately assigned to different companies. While serving their sentence, they do not have the right to even exchange a few words. This may result in disciplinary action, including the guardhouse, which is located on the territory of the disbat. The soldiers call her, in a prison manner, “kitcha.”
Before getting into the disbat, seventy percent of the convicts went through pre-trial detention centers. Over the course of several months of communicating with the “inmates there,” they not only adopt their jargon, but also acquire criminal experience.
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Convicts who have served a third of their sentence are allowed to work in the industrial zone |
The battalion command is concerned that the soldiers are also bringing prison habits from the isolation wards. “As soon as they cross the threshold of the disbat, they try to “divorce by concepts,” one of the officers told me. From there we understand that in captivity it is easier to survive in small groups. They gather in “families” of four to five people. Each such group has its own leader who represents and protects its interests. The task of commander-educators is to identify such a leader and make him manageable.
The rank and file of the variable composition arrogantly call themselves “swindlers.” The soldier-guards, whom they initially dislike, were disparagingly dubbed “cops.” Company commanders are treated with a touch of condescension and are called “daddy.”
It happens that soldiers who have been “sent” to a pre-trial detention center also “enter” the disbat. As a rule, this happens to “mischievous” people, that is, to those who violate the unwritten laws of the camera. The officers go to great lengths to help the soldier hide this fact from the rest of the convicts. But the “wireless prison telegraph” works here too. Yet, unlike the usual “zone” in the army, there are no differences between convicts in terms of criminal articles or terms. Everyone is equal here. Even Chechens and those who fought in Chechnya...
“Do we have Chechens? Of course have. – The platoon commander of the fifth company was silent for a while. - We have a problem with them. If you punish them disciplinaryly, they start complaining about post-traumatic syndrome and talking about how they were bombed from helicopters. They are trying to quit through a psychoneurological clinic.” “And those who fought in Chechnya?” - “And these are there. Only these ones are immediately visible - they are somehow matured, serious. They don’t complain about their troubles and are silent anymore.”
The fate of Private Ivan was no different from the fate of his comrades who ended up serving in the North Caucasus Military District. At first he was a gunner-radio operator. Their unit accompanied the columns on the territory of Chechnya. One day, the armored personnel carrier, which Ivan was on, was blown up by a landmine. The guy came to his senses only in Rostov, in the hospital. After being shell-shocked, he remained in service and returned to his unit. Transferred to the position of armored personnel carrier gunner.
There were six months left before transfer to the reserve, when the command granted Ivan and his colleague leave. They received thirteen thousand “combat” soldiers each. “In Prokhladny, the cops robbed us and took away ten thousand.” The remaining money was only enough to get to a friend’s house in Veliky Novgorod. We decided to get some money and have time to visit Ivan’s parents in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The money was never found, and they didn’t get to their relatives. We decided to return to the unit. We contacted the local military registration and enlistment office, and there the officer advised us not to return to the unit: “What should you do there? What difference does it make where you serve? The same military registration and enlistment office also assisted in sending me to the nearest collection point for deserters. Having become voluntary deserters, they whiled away their days and awaited assignment to another unit. “At the gathering point of the “skiers” (as the fugitives are called. - A.K.) there is mortal melancholy. Fortunately, entry and exit from the territory is free.”
During this time, the comrades managed to meet girls from the neighboring village. One soon invited them to a birthday party. For some reason, a friend was late to the party. They drank everything and a lot. According to Ivan, two glasses were enough for him to “go crazy” after the concussion. “A friend started yelling at a friend who was late. Knocked out the chair under him. Then she threw a bottle at me. I don’t remember what happened next.”
And then... His colleague’s drunken girlfriend was taken away by ambulance to get stitches on her head. Ivan was taken away by the police. A day later, the prosecutor’s office arrived and opened a criminal case. He awaited trial for two months in the Veliky Novgorod pre-trial detention center, which sentenced him to two years in a disciplinary battalion. “They hanged up article 337 for unauthorized abandonment of the unit,” he smiled bitterly, apparently remembering the “kind” advice of an officer from the military registration and enlistment office.
Ivan’s current commander explained: “He arrived to us with a broken psyche - a consequence of shell shock. At first there were conflict situations, I didn’t want to obey. For this he even served ten days in the guardhouse. He stubbornly insisted that he got here “for no reason.” He is currently a model of behavior and a candidate for parole."
From the personal file: “Roman Sh. and Alexander F. from December 6, 2000 to March 25, 2001 participated in hostilities in the Chechen Republic...” Upon arrival at the military unit where they were to continue serving, three colleagues were beaten for that they were sentenced to one year and one and a half years of imprisonment, respectively, to serve the sentence in a disciplinary battalion. The motive for the crime is curious.
Colleagues recall: “Before their arrival in the ninety-ninth regiment, three old-time soldiers, drafted from one North Caucasian republic, mocked the young soldiers. They “kept” the entire unit - they took away things and money. Roman and Alexander were outraged by this state of affairs in the regiment and even tried to raise young soldiers against the unruly trio. But all their efforts were in vain. The regiment was terrified of these three. Then the guys decided to act on their own. On July 21, 2001, they beat the old soldiers and took away from them what, in their opinion, previously belonged to the young soldiers.” It is worth noting that by this time Roman was married and had a child.
Shortly before my arrival at the disbat, both soldiers were released on parole.
From another personal file: “Adam M., born in 1981. Called up in November 2001 by the Grozny RVK... Convicted under Art. 213 part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to one year and six months of imprisonment with serving the sentence in a disciplinary battalion...” In December 2001, drunk, he broke into an officer’s apartment and started a fight. Neighbors in the stairwell helped push him out of the apartment. But he returned with a knife, threatening the officer and his wife.
At the trial, the soldier explained his outburst by saying that he saw the officer’s wife with a cigarette, but in Chechnya women don’t behave like that.
This story was shown on Nizhny Novgorod television. Many were surprised by the lenient sentence...
Summer June evening. There is a group of soldiers at the checkpoint. Some in naval uniform, some in regular camouflage - paratroopers, internal troops and border guards. Tomorrow they will be put on identical green tunics, and they will join companies of variable composition. They will begin to “wind up” the term of the army “diesel”.
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