A disbat is a disciplinary battalion, that is, a special-purpose military unit, where military personnel who have committed grave disciplinary violations regarding military service are sent.
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.
The awarded compulsory work in the disbat, as a rule, represents 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. 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.
After the convict has served 1/3 of his sentence, if his behavior is excellent, he may be transferred to a correctional unit, he may also be allowed to serve in uniform or to perform work outside the military unit (with or without the supervision of a convoy) ).
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.
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, visits with relatives and friends are carried out according to a set schedule, and such visits 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 prison in direct understanding, however, it is characterized by the presence of most of the attributes of bondage 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 “bell ringers”.
End of sentence in disbat
Previously, after the end of serving their sentences, 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.
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.
After taking the oath soviet soldier assumed the duty of loyalty to serving his homeland and criminal liability for misconduct. But this was not written about in the Soviet press, and only isolated high-profile cases began to appear in the press in the 80s of the 20th century.
The spleen is the cause of disbat
The second most common reason for serving a sentence is hazing. Fights often broke out among the recruits - for this they could be convicted and sent to disbat. One day, two paratroopers argued with each other, a fight ensued, as a result of which one of the former comrades was seriously injured - a ruptured spleen. A criminal case was opened, a trial was held - the guilty paratrooper was sent to serve his sentence. Sometimes the infliction of serious harm to health occurred due to negligence: two comrades served in the same unit, and soon they had to take a day off from demobilization.
Disbat is not an army!
But the military personnel had a habit of making symbolic blows, signifying a transfer from one caste to another. This is the kind of blow his friend delivered to his colleague in the stomach - the spleen ruptured and urgent surgery was required. And military investigators opened a case against their former friend, for which he served time.
Dry rations dragged demobilization
There were frequent cases of theft in the Soviet army. Several dry rations became the prey of a group of soldiers, but only one of them paid with freedom: by the time the theft was discovered, the culprits had retired to the reserves, and it was not possible to convict them under military charges.
Military secrets are not for girls
Disclosure of military secrets is the reason why one could be locked behind three rows of barbed wire; usually this is how the punishment zone, especially guarded by Caucasian Shepherd dogs, was fenced off. Employees of one of the disbats recalled how they received a soldier who decided to show off to his girlfriend and called her from the warehouse on his office phone: he was bugged.
In the conversation, the soldier, intimidated by the girl’s voice, said that he was guarding a warehouse with TNT of such power that it could destroy an entire city. Possession of drugs, causing death by negligence while on guard duty - for these and other crimes, soldiers were sent to disbat for up to two years, and from the late 80s - up to three years. Often, military personnel committed the same crimes as in their usual life, they were often brought to the police, and when the time came to serve in the Soviet army, criminal habits were introduced into army life.
Mulino - famous disbat
Usually the location of disbats was chosen in remote villages. In the summer of 1986, near the village of Mulino in the Volodarsky district Nizhny Novgorod region around which there were dozens of military units, one of the 16 largest Soviet disbats was formed. Here, Soviet military construction workers, marines, sailors and infantrymen, with their heads shaved and dressed in identical uniforms, served their sentences. Many of them hoped to be released from the army on parole for exemplary behavior. The daily routine in the Soviet disbat was the same as in a regular army: wake-up at half past six, ten minutes to get dressed and a control check. It was carried out four times.
Disbat is not a prison
The Soviet disciplinary battalion was somewhat reminiscent of a prison, but it was not a prison, since at the end of the sentence for some military personnel, this term was counted and demobilized almost immediately. But not everyone was so lucky. According to Soviet law, after serving a sentence, a soldier was obliged to return to duty and repay his debt in full to his homeland. Information about the criminal punishment incurred did not appear anywhere in the soldier’s documents, with the exception of his personal file.
The investigation was led by the KGB
As a rule, the Soviet army tried to hide illegal cases that cast a shadow of shame on exemplary units, but if this failed, then military investigators and KGB officers got involved, depending on the severity of the crime committed. The matter was resolved within a few days, no one tried to leave the criminal in the unit for a long time, everyone tried to get rid of him.
It must be admitted that Soviet military courts worked professionally and quickly: investigators immediately demanded from commanders all the characteristics of the soldier, documents were drawn up in a criminal case, which was forwarded to the military prosecutor's office, and from there directly to the leadership of the disciplinary battalion. The soldier was put into a car and taken to the wilderness, where such battalions were located: to Chita or Rostov region or to Novosibirsk. However, sometimes it came to anecdotal cases when soldiers themselves got to the place of serving their sentences. But this happened extremely rarely.
Lessons in disbat education
It was especially difficult in the 90s, when Soviet army became a mirror of many interethnic conflicts: the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh backfired with the fact that a massacre occurred in one of the units, as a result, several people went to the hospital for treatment, and several to the disbat. Interethnic clashes occurred in military units in the 80s, but they did not receive wide publicity. The perpetrators, according to military investigators, were sent to serve their sentences. Education by disbat became a lifelong lesson for some - people became extremely obedient and dutiful, while other soldiers were embittered by this measure of punishment - they became the main instigators of conflicts.
In this formation, soldiers who have committed criminal offenses serve their sentences. Also, cadets of military universities who have not yet received an officer rank can get into the diesel engine.
"Diesel" was created in order to create a place for criminal punishment for the military. It was created in accordance with the Criminal Code, which was in force previously. The time a soldier spends in a diesel engine will not be counted toward his main active service period.
Although, in some special cases it may be counted. Such a special case may be an order from the commander-in-chief of the military district. A serviceman who has served his term is sent to the regular troops after a disbat. In the regular troops, a soldier serves out the term that remained for him at the time he was convicted.
The periods for which the military were sent there were different and changed over time. Since the late 1980s, this period has been increased to 3 years.
The permanent staff of an individual diesel engine is usually 300 people. But the number of variable composition may vary depending on the number of convicts. The number of variable staff cannot be more than 500 people. Next, we’ll tell you if there are osdibs now?
Is there a disbat in Russia now?
In the early 2000s, the number of Osdibs was reduced. Several of them were disbanded. Now there are only two Osdibs left in Russia. In some CIS countries they have completely ceased to exist.
What is the difference between a guardhouse and a disciplinary battalion?
Of course there are some similarities. Both there and there, soldiers are serving their sentences.
However, there are also differences. How are these two formations different from each other?
- The first difference is the period of detention. The period of military detention in a guardhouse does not exceed 15 days. In a diesel engine, the service life of employees is much longer, it can reach 3 years.
- Violations. In the guardhouse, soldiers usually serve sentences for minor disciplinary violations. And in Osdiba they serve their assigned sentence. In addition, the guardhouse has special rooms in which soldiers suspected of serious crimes are kept.
It is these servicemen who, according to the court’s conclusion, are sent to the “diesel”. It is there that soldiers who commit crimes serve their sentences.
Osdib is a place where military personnel serve sentences of up to three years. If a military man has committed a fairly serious crime and his punishment exceeds 3 years, he is sent to civilian life.
Why do you get osdiby in the army?
In the army there is such a thing as osdib.
Why can you get there? For example, for .
You can also get there if a serviceman flagrantly violated the regulations, left the military unit without permission, or divulged military secrets. Those who refused to follow orders are also sent there.
Brutal murderers, as well as rapists and other criminals who have committed fairly serious crimes, are not sent there.
They go to the civilian zone.
How are soldiers sent to this institution?
If a serviceman is suspected of committing a crime, he is sent to a special room, which is located in the guardhouse. Further investigation is carried out. If it is confirmed that the serviceman committed a crime, the court makes an appropriate decision. After the conclusion of the court, the convicted person is escorted to the osdib.
Is service in Osdiba carried out under a contract?
In a disciplinary battalion, soldiers can serve either by conscription or by contract.
Important! It is worth noting that those persons who have... Thus, if a citizen who wants to serve under a contract in a disbat was already there in a rotating composition and his criminal record was not cleared, then a contract will not be concluded with him.
A contract candidate goes through several stages of selection. On final stage During the selection process, candidates are checked for the presence or absence of a criminal record.
If all checks are passed, then the citizen can be accepted into the army under a contract. He is given a military ID, after which a contract is concluded with him.
After concluding the contract, the citizen undergoes training and is sent to the place where he will serve. Such a place could become a disciplinary battalion.
Due to the fact that there are only two such battalions, and the number of soldiers serving there is limited to 300 per battalion, the chance that a soldier will end up there is quite low.
How is it going?
Service in the disciplinary battalion is the same as in other places. A feature of the service in this place can be called enhanced control over prisoners.
The military personnel who serve in this particular place are part of the permanent disciplinary battalion.
How many of them are there in Russia? Addresses of military disbats
How many disbats are there in the country? Now in Russia there are only two Osdibs. Addresses.
28th separate disciplinary battalion in Mulino- one of the two disbats remaining in Russia. The second is near Chita. But even in those days when there were more disbats throughout the country, Mulinsky was considered one of the most prosperous, if in general the words “well-being” and “disbat” can be placed side by side. I think the few hours spent inside this impressive establishment turned out to be extremely useful. A source of knowledge of life of rare power.
A disciplinary battalion is not a prison, but a military unit. There are two types of personnel serving in military unit 12801 - permanent and variable. Variable military personnel are those who are inside the protected perimeter. They get inside for different periods of time, from three months up to two years. At the moment, there are 170 “guests” in the unit out of a possible 800.
Knowledgeable people explained: going to a disciplinary battalion is not such a simple task. I mean, there are few “accidentally stumbled” people, more of those who managed to gain quite significant personal “fame” through their efforts. The army is not a chamber of weights and measures and not a right-flank scout detachment, it is a huge organization within which a lot of the strangest violations and deviations constantly happen. And you will have to strain a little to be personally noticed against the general background. Some spared no effort on this.
There are many in disbat who allowed themselves the so-called. hazing. Otherwise, this kind of relationship is called “hazing” or “anniversary”. One of the most common types of hazing is beating up colleagues. In addition to the “executors”, there is also a large percentage of “Sochi residents” ( SOC- unauthorized abandonment of a unit) or, as they are also called, “skiers.” Generally speaking, there are not so many articles under which soldiers of variable composition were convicted.
For example, Article 335 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Violation of the statutory rules of relations between military personnel in the absence of subordination relations between them. Violation of the statutory rules of relations between military personnel in the absence of a relationship of subordination between them, associated with humiliation of honor and dignity or mockery of the victim, or associated with violence, is punishable by detention in a disciplinary military unit for a term of up to two years or imprisonment for a term of up to three years. And subparagraphs to the article.
Or article 337. Unauthorized abandonment of a unit or place of duty. Unauthorized abandonment of a unit or place of service, as well as failure to appear on time for service without good reason upon dismissal from a unit, upon assignment, transfer, from a business trip, vacation or medical institution lasting more than two days, but not more than ten days, committed by a military personnel undergoing military service by conscription - is punishable by arrest for a term of up to six months or detention in a disciplinary military unit for a term of up to one year. And again a bunch of sub-points.
In the disbat there are former thieves, brawlers, robbers, unprincipled hooligans and simply amazing fools (for those interested - almost an hour long film with real stories). But there are no rapists, murderers or other criminals. Institutions of a different kind are intended for them.
By the way, here it is very big question arises - where, in fact, is it better: in the disbat or in prison? Personally, I don’t know the correct answer, but I suspect that for the majority of those who stop by, disbat is more useful than prison. But these are my fantasies, of course; I don’t know how it really is there. But I know that there are no marks of a criminal record in the passport of a serviceman who spent time in a disbat. Of course, it won’t be difficult for the military commissar to understand what lies behind the lines about being in military unit 12801, but for the rest, for those not involved, the person’s reputation is untarnished. This, there is an opinion, in a number of circumstances can be costly for a young man.
“Nothing makes a warrior’s life easier than discipline...”
In companies there are only privates. Past achievements, titles and distinctions do not count. The type of military service and specialization also do not play a role. A sailor, a motorized rifleman, a border guard or a “Vovan” - everyone is equally warmly welcomed into the fold of the disciplinary battalion. They shave their heads and change them into new uniforms. The times when the Red Army uniform of the 1943 model was worn in the disbat are gone. Caps with stars, trousers and tunics with a stand-up collar are no longer in warehouses.
The servicemen are dressed in regular “camouflage”. On top of the uniform, the company numbers and the inscription CONVOY are applied across the entire back using white paint through a stencil. This is so as not to confuse constant and variable compositions with each other. Another visible difference between the compositions is overcoats instead of pea coats. Although, as you can see in the pictures, there are also pea coats. The footwear is quite uniform - boots. In cold weather - felt boots. By the way, the boots of the convicted soldiers we met in the unit really shone. The fighters’ buckles, on the contrary, are faded and field-colored. Some are painted green for some reason.
Inside the protected perimeter there are bars on the windows, buffer gates made of metal mesh and other restrictions. The sleeping quarters in the barracks are separated by a locked lattice metal door. If at night a fighter feels the urge to go to the toilet, he must check in on a special list and proceed to the place of discharge of natural needs strictly in splendid isolation. Already together, for example, you can’t rush to the toilet at night.
While we were photographing the orderly, the outfit sleeping in the barracks received the command “Rise!” The rest immediately flew over the beds and marched in a clear, short formation to the washing room.
The national question is largely absent; various kinds of “community communities” and other groups are not encouraged. But the so-called “Caucasians” are present. Approximately every fourth of the 170 current “convicts” is from the Caucasus. Among them there are citizens who mistakenly consider themselves stubborn and unbending. If the list of offered pleasures seems insufficiently complete to a fiery fighter for his rights as a man who has come to the disbat, there is a healing guardhouse. The period of stay there is up to 30 days. A court decision is not required; the will of the commander is sufficient.
If thirty days on the “lip” seemed like a joke, the procedure can be repeated. So far, they say, it has helped everyone. As a result, the convicted and guilty warrior’s desire to work on himself and constructive physical labor in the name of society increases sharply. But the “dietary food” in the form of bread and water at the guardhouse was cancelled. The inmates there and the disbat soldiers are fed the same.
Outside, the “variable” warriors are guarded by other warriors from the permanent staff. In addition to the shooters, fierce guard dogs and special equipment are on guard. The object is secure, the guards move in “armor”, helmets and with fixed bayonets and, in which case, have the right to open fire to kill. They know how to shoot, the unit’s command conducts live firing almost every Friday, fortunately the training ground in Mulino is gigantic, there is enough space for both a guard shooter and self-propelled guns.
“My friend and I both work on diesel...”
The labor front for military personnel of variable composition is all around. Starting from the barracks, shining with almost sterile cleanliness, the absolutely square snowdrifts around the parade ground, and ending with the painstaking production of large-scale models of the unit for the local museum.
After the “tour” of the part, those gathered were given the opportunity to listen short stories four disbat soldiers. The most harmless of them is the “self-propelled gun”. He ran away from the unit home, ran for three days, and now he will spend nine months behind the fence in Mulino. Next to him is a guy with a Georgian surname and restless eyes. He beat the officer who was filming him on a video camera, and broke the video camera. Why? For what? Unclear. 10 months to think about it.
The best performer was the former sergeant, who had already served for 11 months, was discharged and, on this basis, suffered serious bodily injuries. Arrived in Mulino for 2 years. He looked at everyone with an eagle eye, apparently, he was a tough nut to crack. The others' eyes were dark and scary. The young boys evoked sympathy, whatever. Among them were amazing characters. Now everyone together will enjoy exciting activities to correct themselves.
The officers accompanying us explained clearly: trimming and tirelessly squaring snowdrifts, constantly walking in formation, the difficult casting of concrete blocks in the industrial zone and months of cramming the same rules that have already become boring a hundred times over are, of course, stupid activities. This is clear to everyone, especially civilians. Sensible occupations are extortion, theft, escapes, beatings, vehicle thefts, unauthorized absences from mother’s house and trips to the next vacation, exhausting oneself with many days of drinking and indiscriminate robbery of clueless citizens. It's a completely different matter!
The craving for such hobbies in disbat is relieved with the help of occupational therapy. While we were standing on the parade ground, several groups of fighters with crowbars, shovels and brooms marched in different directions, briskly striding along the frozen asphalt. On the parade ground, disbat soldiers either march (most often in formation, but sometimes individually) or run. Drill training and physical education are closely intertwined and fill almost all of a serviceman’s leisure time. And in general, the impression was that the variable-strength soldier in a disbat tends to either stand still or immediately run.
In the so-called In their “free time”, servicemen of the disciplinary battalion can turn to faith. On the territory of the disbat, a small, very neat Orthodox church. There is a prayer room for Muslims. In rare moments of leisure, believing soldiers have the opportunity to reflect on their immortal souls. Places of worship in the military unit are not empty.
Do they flee from the disbat? They are running. But rarely and unsuccessfully. One of the escape cases was recorded in 2008. The escape ended sadly: after warning shots in the air, the guards opened aimed fire at the fugitive, shot him in both legs, and the guard dogs also bit the wounded man. But there is no need to look for the guilty here; all participants in the events knew for certain what they were getting into and what to expect. In Mulino it’s not Hollywood at all; you won’t find many kilometers of heated ventilation openings and baskets of laundry to ensure a comfortable escape.
In the history of the disbat there were particularly resourceful fighters: one decided to run away through the sheets through the window straight from the hotel where he was staying with his visiting parents, and the other bravely ate nails and other metal objects. I really wanted to rest in the hospital. The nails were removed from the inventive object and parts were transferred to the museum. Other items confiscated from (from) convicts are also stored there - syringes, homemade playing cards, primitive sharpening points, knives and other useful little things.
It was not possible to see any, let me emphasize once again in red, ANY horrors in the location of the unit, except for those that were demonstrated at every step: cleanliness, monotony, full employment. Without any jokes - 8 hours of drill and physical training, 8 hours of studying regulations, 8 hours of sleep, moving strictly within the perimeter by running or marching, checks, formations, strict adherence to the daily routine, not everyone can withstand the daily drill. The regulations, for example, are studied until complete amazement and falling into a military trance; only on this basis can one move one’s mind! There is no doubt - a difficult place. You can see everything at once from the faces of the variable composition of military personnel. It’s not worth coming here, they say, but it will only dawn on you too late.
I don’t know whether the skills and abilities acquired in disbat will be useful to soldiers in later life, but from a conversation with a permanent soldier it became clear: knowing the regulations makes life easier on any side of the barbed wire. The soldier seems to know what he's talking about.
After taking the oath, the Soviet soldier assumed the duty of loyalty to serve his Motherland and criminal liability for misconduct. But this was not written about in the Soviet press, and only isolated high-profile cases began to appear in the press in the 80s of the 20th century.
The spleen is the cause of disbat
The second most common reason for serving a sentence is hazing. Fights often broke out among the recruits - for this they could be convicted and sent to disbat. One day, two paratroopers argued with each other, a fight ensued, as a result of which one of the former comrades was seriously injured - a ruptured spleen. A criminal case was opened, a trial was held - the guilty paratrooper was sent to serve his sentence. Sometimes the infliction of serious harm to health occurred due to negligence: two comrades served in the same unit, and soon they had to take a day off from demobilization. But the military personnel had a habit of making symbolic blows, signifying a transfer from one caste to another. This is the kind of blow his friend delivered to his colleague in the stomach - the spleen ruptured and urgent surgery was required. And military investigators opened a case against their former friend, for which he served time.
Dry rations dragged demobilization
There were frequent cases of theft in the Soviet army. Several dry rations became the prey of a group of soldiers, but only one of them paid with freedom: by the time the theft was discovered, the culprits had retired to the reserves, and it was not possible to convict them under military charges.
Military secrets are not for girls
Disclosure of military secrets is the reason why one could be locked behind three rows of barbed wire; usually this is how the punishment zone, especially guarded by Caucasian Shepherd dogs, was fenced off. Employees of one of the disbats recalled how they received a soldier who decided to show off to his girlfriend and called her from the warehouse on his office phone: he was bugged. In the conversation, the soldier, intimidated by the girl’s voice, said that he was guarding a warehouse with TNT of such power that it could destroy an entire city. Possession of drugs, causing death by negligence while on guard duty - for these and other crimes, soldiers were sent to disbat for up to two years, and from the late 80s - up to three years. Often, military personnel committed the same crimes as in their usual life, they were often brought to the police, and when the time came to serve in the Soviet army, criminal habits were introduced into army life.
Mulino - famous disbat
Usually the location of disbats was chosen in remote villages. In the summer of 1986, near the village of Mulino in the Volodarsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region, around which there were dozens of military units, one of the 16 largest Soviet disbats was formed. Here, Soviet military construction workers, marines, sailors and infantrymen, with their heads shaved and dressed in identical uniforms, served their sentences. Many of them hoped to be released from the army on parole for good behavior. The daily routine in the Soviet disbat was the same as in a regular army: wake-up at half past six, ten minutes to get dressed and a control check. It was carried out four times.
Disbat is not a prison
The Soviet disciplinary battalion was somewhat reminiscent of a prison, but it was not a prison, since at the end of the sentence for some military personnel, this term was counted and demobilized almost immediately. But not everyone was so lucky. According to Soviet law, after serving a sentence, a soldier was obliged to return to duty and repay his debt in full to his homeland. Information about the criminal punishment incurred did not appear anywhere in the soldier’s documents, with the exception of his personal file.
The investigation was led by the KGB
As a rule, the Soviet army tried to hide illegal cases that cast a shadow of shame on exemplary units, but if this failed, then military investigators and KGB officers got involved, depending on the severity of the crime committed. The matter was resolved within a few days, no one tried to leave the criminal in the unit for a long time, everyone tried to get rid of him. It must be admitted that Soviet military courts worked professionally and quickly: investigators immediately demanded from commanders all the characteristics of the soldier, documents were drawn up in a criminal case, which was forwarded to the military prosecutor's office, and from there directly to the leadership of the disciplinary battalion. The soldier was put in a car and taken to the wilderness, where such battalions were located: in the Chita or Rostov regions or in Novosibirsk. However, sometimes it came to anecdotal cases when soldiers themselves got to the place of serving their sentences. But this happened extremely rarely.
Lessons in disbat education
It was especially difficult in the 90s, when the Soviet army became a mirror of many interethnic conflicts: the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh resulted in a massacre in one of the units, as a result, several people went to the hospital for treatment, and several to the disbat . Interethnic clashes occurred in military units in the 80s, but they did not receive wide publicity. The perpetrators, according to military investigators, were sent to serve their sentences. Education by disbat became a lifelong lesson for some - people became extremely obedient and dutiful, while other soldiers were embittered by this measure of punishment - they became the main instigators of conflicts.