Meet Russia’s latest ‘war hero’: A brigade commander accused of running a torture camp and ordering troops to execute their own comrades

The commander of the 5th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (formerly the Oplot Battalion), Colonel Ramil Faskhutdinov, has been named a Hero of Russia, the Defense Ministry announced.

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The specific actions for which Faskhutdinov received the award were not disclosed. In late 2025, the colonel personally briefed President Vladimir Putin on the capture of Myrnograd in the Donetsk region.

iStories describes Faskhutdinov as “one of the main ‘zeroers’” in the Russian army. The outlet also said relatives of soldiers from his brigade said he personally sent wounded troops on crutches into assault units to dispose of them. Separately, some servicemen reportedly said Faskhutdinov had ordered them to execute fellow soldiers.

Astra, a Russian independent news outlet, has reported that the 5th brigade runs a torture camp for its own troops on the grounds of an abandoned mine in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Astra also reported that commanders extort money from the troops sent there and then dispatch them on “human‑wave assaults.”

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