The military court in the southern city of Krasnodar reprimanded the officer, who along with three of his colleagues heavily beat up the servicemen and tortured them with electric shocks, ITAR-TASS said.

The officer testified in court that on New Year's Eve, 19 conscripts ran away from his military unit, but returned early in January.

They decided to interrogate the soldiers in a bid to find out which of them was the organizer of the mass desertion, he said.

Desertions, suicides and killings are frequent in the 1.1-million-strong Russian military, where conditions are harsh and recruits are often subjected to bullying and violence.

SPACE.WIRE