James Zumwalt: Russian Deserters Become Fodder For A Gruesome Training Lesson

An OpEd by Lt. Col. (Ret.) James Zumwalt

Lt. Col. James Zumwalt is a retired Marine infantry officer who served in the Vietnam War, the 1989 intervention into Panama and Desert Storm. He is a senior analyst for Ravenna Associates and heads a security consulting firm named after his father: Admiral Zumwalt & Consultants, Inc

(Warning: Not to be read by the faint-hearted.)

While America is blessed to have those who love her, she unfortunately has those too who, enjoying her benefits, disparage her. Most of us recognize what we have is not perfect, but the values with which she has imbued us motivate us to keep moving in that direction. There will always be those who choose to disrespect America, despite the fact that the vast majority of Americans are not hateful or racist.  Often those choosing to demean America fail to grasp the fact there are many other countries where they were fortunate enough not to have been born.

Critics of America need heed the firsthand observations of a Russian military medic, captured during the Ukraine war, about his initial training. His comments are most telling about how Russia treats its own and should provide America’s critics with a new found appreciation for what our country represents. 

The medic explained how Russian soldiers undertook their training in the country at a place known as Derzhynka. Obviously, the vast majority of those present were not there because they wanted to be. Within five days of his arrival, the medic said one of the young draftees escaped, but was quickly captured.

All trainees were assembled to observe the escapee’s punishment meted out.

Small plastic explosives were tied to the escapee’s limbs and detonated. Medics in training were then sent in to render first aid–not necessarily to save the escapee’s life but only to keep him alive as a training tool to work on real battlefield wounds experienced by Russian troops. After the medics rendered their first aid training, the escapee was subjected to the next phase of his punishment. 

Two members of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, armed with axes and other tools, began severing the escapee’s remaining limbs. Again, this was followed by rendering additional first aid training by the medic trainees. The focus of the punishment mandated keeping their victim alive for the benefit of all the observers to ensure they saw the escapee suffer  a long lingering and painful death. 

If the victim was still alive at this point, he was mercifully shot several times before what remained of the body was then subjected to a larger explosion to vaporize it. This way, there was no body to send home so the victim officially became Missing-in-Action.

Russian authority has always sought to extract the maximum from citizens who betrayed it. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was settled without conflict only because of the actions of a Soviet military spy, Colonel Oleg Penkovsky, working in Moscow as a double agent. He shared intelligence with Washington that was critical to President John F. Kennedy’s decision to press the Soviets to make a deal. That intel involved knowing if the Russian missiles in Cuba were yet armed with nukes. Penkovsky reported they were not and Kennedy was then able to pressure the Soviets into accepting his offer mandating the missiles be removed. 

Penkovsky single-handedly saved the world from a nuclear disaster. It was no wonder the CIA had given him the codename “Hero.” He gave Washington the intel it needed to resolve the crisis, even though he knew his superiors would be able to trace the leak back to him. He was subsequently arrested, tried, convicted and allegedly subjected to an exceptionally gruesome death.

As with the story shared by the Russian medic above, Soviet intel agents were assembled to observe Penkovsky’s execution. He was strapped to a board and fed into a furnace fire. But to prolong his demise and pain, he was fed into it feet first.

One would have thought the Soviet military leadership would have mellowed at some point. But Moscow has never taken desertion and treason lightly. During Russia’s ten year war in Afghanistan (1979-1989), deserters who were caught were summarily executed. Two deserters in 1981 surrendered to the mujahideen who then turned them over to western powers. Despite every effort by their democratic hosts to help them adjust to life in the West, one of them was unable to do so and opted to return to Russia. Immediately upon his return, he was executed.

Our founding fathers recognized in drafting the Constitution, there was room for improvement. That is set out in the first sentence of that document which begins, “We the People of the United State, in Order to form a more perfect Union…” For more than two centuries we have struggled to move in that direction which is why America today is so much more than it was when the Constitution was written. 

Preamble: U.S. Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

America has been a leader in breaking barriers that have denied citizens a level playing field. That is the bond that should tie all of us together as we pursue that more perfect union. Those who denigrate our country, our flag and our national anthem need to wake up to the reality that their actions do nothing to help get us there. They need to wake up to the reality they are truly blessed to be able to call America home.