Editing Cheka (section)

=== Persecution of deserters ===
It is believed that there were more than three million [[deserter]]s from the Red Army in 1919 and 1920 {{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}. Approximately 500,000 deserters were arrested in 1919 and close to 800,000 in 1920, by troops of the 'Special Punitive Department' of the Cheka, created to punish desertions.<ref name="Black" /><ref>Chamberlain, William Henry, ''The Russian Revolution: 1917–1921'', New York: Macmillan Co. (1957), p. 131</ref> These troops were used to forcibly [[Repatriation|repatriate]] deserters, taking and shooting hostages to force compliance or to set an example.

In September 1918, according to ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]''{{dubious |date=September 2024}}, in only twelve provinces of Russia, 48,735 deserters and 7,325 "bandits" were arrested, 1,826 were killed and 2,230 were executed. The exact identity of these individuals is confused by the fact that the Soviet Bolshevik government used the term 'bandit' to cover ordinary criminals as well as armed and unarmed political opponents, such as the anarchists.