As for the invention of methods of savage torment for suspects and accused in Russia, there were many magicians. The Slavic experience in this regard was even adopted in the West.
On the rack, everyone is frank, like children
This phrase was pronounced by the imperial life-medic, the great palace intriguer Lestok in the film "Midshipmen, forward!" Dyboy in Russia was called a universal torture device - the martyrs were stretched, the joints were broken (it was from this action that the executioners were called masters in the old days) or they were dressed in an "iron shirt", while completely immobilizing them.
Dyba was one of the most popular methods of torture in Russia partly because the dislocated joints were then repaired and if the accused was not executed, he could then work in hard labor for some time. A variant of the rack - "the cradle of Judas", when the arms and legs of the tortured were threaded into rings and stretched in different directions.
By the way, in the same film about midshipmen, another form of torture, popular among the Slavs, is mentioned - a whip cutting (a three-tailed "cat"). The most dexterous executioners could remove the skin from the martyr with the minimum number of blows.
Write out batogs and "find out the ins and outs"
Promotional video:
Beating out confessions, the executioners beat the suspects with batogs (sticks). They beat me on the back, trying not to hit the head, arms and legs - the working organs.
“Find out all the ins and outs” - the history of this old Russian proverb is also associated with torture - in Russia they found out the truth, ripping out the nails of suspects or driving needles under them. "Genuine" - this word is also derived from the designation of the torture process - "obtained under the molt" (molt - a rope whip, which flogged sailors).
Drop by drop
This is a torture to drive a person “into amazement” (as it was written in the Old Russian law) - that is, to bring a martyr to the point of insanity. It was called "a thin jug": the accused with a shaved crown was tied to a post, and water oozed from above onto the bald spot. Such a "hydraulic" "Morse code" for an hour or two drove a person crazy. He could not even scream during the execution - there was a gag in his mouth. In particular, swearing people were punished in this way.
Fiery "steam room"
Under Ivan IV, they liked to publicly whip the guilty with a flaming bath broom. This torture also had a preventive meaning - they steamed in Russia in every family, respectively, a broom was an invariable attribute of any bath. His appearance was supposed to remind the Russian people that they can whip with a broom as punishment.
Without tongue and with "toad paws"
Before Peter I, who popularized tobacco smoking, in Russia, tongues were tore for smoking. Fans of playing cards lost their noses - it was believed that these paper quadrangles depicted symbols of the execution of Christ.
For some reason, Ivan the Terrible had an acute dislike for the folk artists-parsley. When they were caught, it was ordered with the help of a special torture device to squeeze out the knuckles of the actors “like bones from a cherry”. The hands after that looked like "toad's feet", hence the name of the torture.
The robbers were hung on hooks
Those caught in a riot or robbery in Russia were hung on hooks by the ribs. The tortured person suffered long. An interpreter often stood next to the martyr, explaining to onlookers what a person was being punished for.
Nikolay Syromyatnikov