In Russia, a brigade commander who sends soldiers on crutches into battle has been named a Hero of Russia
Defense Minister Andrei Belousov presented the gold star of the "Hero of Russia" to Colonel Ramil Faskhutdinov, nicknamed Mamai, commander of the 5th Zakharchenko Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade. This title was awarded to the former head of the “Oplot” battalion of the “DPR” ahead of Russia Day.
It is unknown exactly why the title was awarded, although “Gazeta.ru” reports that the colonel briefed Putin on the capture of Mirnograd in late 2025, whereas in reality, the Russian armed forces did not capture the city until February 2026.
Faskhutdinov took command of the 5th Brigade after the unit’s previous commander, General Pavel Klimenko, was killed in 2024; Klimenko was posthumously awarded the title of “Hero of Russia.” The publication established that the 5th Brigade operates a concentration camp for Russian soldiers on the grounds of the abandoned Petrovskaya Mine in Donetsk, where commanders extort money from the soldiers, transfer salaries and death benefits to themselves via power of attorney, and send soldiers into suicide assaults.
Relatives of the soldiers reported that Faskhutdinov personally sends maimed soldiers on crutches and with Ilizarov frames into assaults in order to get rid of them, while the soldiers themselves admitted that the commander ordered them to shoot their own comrades-in-arms. After the accounts from soldiers of the 5th Brigade, propagandist Vladimir Solovyov began to defend Faskhutdinov.
Even under Klymenko, brigade fighters tortured a U.S. citizen, RT streamer Russell Bentley, to death and blew up his corpse, and also killed music teacher Vladimir Frolov, who had been illegally conscripted despite having a third-degree disability, in a basement; his body was buried in a closed coffin. The title of “Hero of Russia” is also held by Faskhutdinov’s deputy, Colonel Ilya Ivanov, nicknamed “Boatswain,” whom the military accused of setting up roadblocks, extortion, torture, murdering fellow soldiers who refused to share their money, killing civilians, and selling off humanitarian aid.
This was reported by Vazhnye Istorii.
The propaganda channel Z-Channel “From Mariupol to the Carpathians” reported the death of one of its key administrators, who regularly reported to readers on the shelling of civilians and war crimes committed by him or his “brothers-in-arms.” The site’s authors, as usual, glossed over the death with phrases like “the Lord takes the best,” but refused to officially reveal the identity of the deceased or the circumstances of his death.
Ukrainian drones destroyed Russian commander Naran Ochir-Goryaev, who had previously reported on the alleged assault and “capture” of Siversk and received awards for it.
