Diesel is a scary place. Disbat in the army - what is it and why are they sent there? Why do they get into disbat?

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 segment 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.

Find out: What is alternative civilian service in the army, ACS

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, then the USSR, 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 perform the duties of a worker outside military service. Also, the execution of the decision can occur under the supervision of a convoy or without it.

Find out: How is the logistical support of the RF Armed Forces organized?

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 in times Soviet power, 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 must be accompanied when sent. But due to the fact that such responsible persons who are ready for this are rarely found, sending them back may take some time.

Once again, at the invitation of the Ministry of Defense Press Club, which regularly organizes press tours for bloggers, I went to study military life from the inside. This time the unit was not quite ordinary - the 28th separate DISCIPLINARY BATTALION in Mulino.

My dad, who served in the army in the 80s, said that soldiers were always afraid of disbats like fire. There was an opinion: a zone is better than a disbat. So I went to the unit in advance full of sympathy and compassion for the guys who found themselves in inhumane conditions. Now I can tell everyone frankly: there are no “inhuman” conditions, no one is torturing anyone. Discipline, a strict daily routine, work and an almost complete lack of free time - that, in fact, is all that distinguishes a disbat from an ordinary military unit.

And also regarding the comparison with the zone: only 5% of the guys who served their sentences in the disbat subsequently commit crimes. I think we all realize that the percentage of those released from prison who re-offend is very high.

Why do they end up in disbat?

First of all, I was interested in the fate of the people who ended up in the disciplinary battalion. Who, why, for what term was sentenced, admits guilt or not, etc. Thanks to the unit’s leadership for permission to ask questions and talk with any of the soldiers, including the new arrivals.

This is Egor, he is 21 years old. He served in Tver in the air force. In the 7th month of service, I had an argument with a guy from the new conscription and hit him.
I ask: why did you do this?
“I wanted to show that I am better. Now, of course, I understand that I was wrong, but nothing can be corrected.”
For bruising a colleague, Egor will serve 8 months in the disbat. I don’t know whether he’s sincere or not, but he says that the conditions are normal, not much different from the army, “only they’re watching us seriously.”
“Here I became calmer. I realized that it is impossible to cause pain. Moreover, it is not worth losing 8 months of freedom. When I return home, I dream of going to university, studying to become a psychologist.”

Sergei has a different story. He just arrived at the unit and was sentenced to 10 months. He probably won’t admit his guilt, and he certainly didn’t expect to be punished for disobeying orders. But in vain...

Extract from the verdict (photo below):

“At about 11 p.m. on January 4, 2011, Private Grigoriev, being an orderly for the unit... in the barracks, without good reason and acting deliberately, evading a number of duties of military service and wanting to create easier conditions for himself to perform it,... openly and demonstratively refused to carry out the verbal order of the duty officer for a given military unit to clean the barracks premises assigned to the company orderly..."

Well, there are many more stories that could be told, but they are all similar: failure to follow orders, leaving a unit without permission, not returning from dismissal, beating up a co-worker... I really feel sorry for them, but then you understand: they are being disbatted for a cause, and he’s right a unit commander who does not cover hazing among soldiers.

The number of people serving sentences in the disbat is not growing: now there are 200 people there (for comparison, in 2004 there were more than 700). This makes me happy =)

What do soldiers do in the disbat?

Disbat is, first of all, discipline. The daily routine is as follows:

6.30 - rise
6.40 - control formation on the parade ground
50 minutes charging
Then the morning toilet, making the bed
8.20 - breakfast
9.00 - formation, flag raising
9.10 - 13.50 - training sessions for persons in quarantine (those who are here for no more than 2 weeks)
The rest at this time are engaged in socially useful work, working in a reinforced concrete workshop (photos will be below)
14.00 - lunch. Then personal time.
16.00 - control formation
until 17.50 - classes and socially useful work
18.00 - 18.50 - those who are in quarantine undergo a daily medical examination for the presence of bruises and marks from beatings (according to the command of the unit, this is nonsense in the disbat, but these are the rules)
19.20 - 19.50 - dinner
Then personal time
21.50 - formation and evening walk (20 minutes)

Work in a reinforced concrete workshop. The proceeds from the sold products go to the account of the part. The work is VERY difficult, but the education of fighters is possible exclusively through work, and nothing else. You have to work.

And this is lunch:

The food is good. Soup, buckwheat with chicken, vegetable salad, fruit drink. And about. The unit commander gave his word that this was not a show and this is the way the guys eat every day.

“Let’s go see our poodles and lap dogs,” they told us, and off we went. Cute doggies))

I had to stand aside, because I was very embarrassed by this huge dog, shaking the bars and howling heartbreakingly, and especially embarrassed by the soldier who was holding the shaky lock on the door of the enclosure with his hand. Then we were told that 3 years ago the convict tried to escape. It was the dogs that detained him. 16 bites + crossfire on the legs from the guards. No one else tried to escape.

Demonstration performances

The results are as follows

I didn’t have time to ask a lot, time was very limited, for example, how does one serve in a guard company (these are ordinary conscripts).

For those who came here not by chance, but for a reason, it’s hard not so much physically as mentally. Barbed wire, 2 security systems, dogs also guard the area at night. Every two hours - building and checking the composition. The terms are quite long - from 3 months to 2 years. At the end of his term, the guy is sent to serve in the army, only in a different unit. Meetings with relatives are allowed (4 times a year), but only with the closest ones - parents, brothers, sisters and wives. One parcel per month is also allowed, but the list of items is strictly limited.

But if there weren’t such units (and we now have two disbats - in Mulino and in Chita), many would go to serve time behind bars.

Conclusion: if you serve, take the army seriously. Respect the rules and your colleagues. Although I didn’t see any horrors in the disbat, I don’t recommend going there.

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.

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 fell prey to 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 military secrets- this is the reason why it was possible to rattle behind three rows of barbed wire; usually this is how the punishment zone, especially protected by Caucasian Shepherds, 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 ordinary life, they were often brought to the police, and when it was time 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.

Disbat education lessons

It was especially difficult in the 90s, when Soviet army became a mirror of many interethnic conflicts: the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh It backfired with the fact that in one of the units there was a massacre, 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. Being raised by a disbat became a lifelong lesson for some - people became extremely obedient and dutiful

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 offender in a disciplinary unit is not included in the total period of service 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 spent serving a sentence in disbat is not included in total term 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 resides. 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.

Mode of serving a sentence in disbat

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 a prison in the direct sense, but it is characterized by the presence of most of the attributes of captivity 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 “ringers.”

End of sentence in disbat

Previously, after the end of their sentence, 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. Often this wait is prolonged due to the lack of responsible employees for supervision or funds for business trips. Also, military units may be located in the Far North, from where it takes too long to get there, as a result of which convicts often overstay their sentence.

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.