Why is this Russian non-commissioned officer sticking his tongue out?

On March 21, 1915, Alexei Makukha, a telegraph operator with the 148th Infantry Regiment, was captured by the Austrians. Since he was connected to the headquarters by virtue of his position, he was naturally interrogated.

Makukha refused to talk, so the enraged Austrians pulled out his tongue and cut a piece of it off. Soon, a Russian infantry unit stormed the enemy positions and rescued their comrade.

The disfigured telegraph operator was sent to the hospital, where he immediately underwent surgery. He was unable to utter a word for several months and, for many years afterward, he could only speak with a whisper.

The brave man was showered with awards and promoted to non-commissioned officer. Supreme Commander-in-Chief Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich expressed his personal gratitude "for his loyalty to his oath, his sense of duty to the throne and the motherland, as well as his refusal to divulge official secrets to the enemy".

For some time, the telegraph operator's story was a constant fixture in newspapers and his heroic deed was even compared to the martyrdom of the early Christians. In published photographs, he invariably showed off his mutilated tongue.

The subsequent fate of Alexei Makukha is unknown.