The Zero Line: Inside Russia’s War review – harrowing testimony from a military that turns on its own

Jailed, beaten, executed … this BBC documentary gives voice to Russian dissidents and conscripts trapped in a system of violence, fear and punishment. The result is devastatingIn the dying days of the Soviet Union, there was much talk of “Afghan syndrome” within Russia. Thousands of veterans of the ill-fated war in Afghanistan were traumatised, angry and denied any sort of aftercare. A mass epidemic of untreated PTSD was let loose on the streets. After watching this horrifying documentary, it’s hard not to conclude that the country’s late-80s experience of the aftermath of conflict might have been simply a taster of what was to come.Some of the interviewees in Ben Steele’s film speak anonymously. Many show their faces but don’t give names. A few are happy to be named in full, presumably on the grounds that the Russian state has already done its worst. All are impossibly, heartbreakingly brave.