Tanked-up Ukranian troops are crammed into small metal cages as a punishment for getting drunk.

Video footage of the soldiers being shoved into the cages to sober up in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine has been published online.

The men are forced to sit on the floor of the metal enclosure as it is not high enough for them to stand. The scene is described by an onlooker as a 'f***ing embarrassment'.

'Embarrassment': The soldiers are filmed crammed inside a metal cage as punishment for getting drunk

Punishment: The Ukranian soldiers are kept inside the enclosure in front of colleagues while they sober up

The disgraced men are only released when they have sobered up and are then forced to go on a course before being handed back their weapons.

They are questioned about their discipline and run the risk of being thrown out of the army.

The extraordinary video was shot from inside a car, and a man, believed to be another soldier, is heard saying: 'This is an f***ing embarrassment.'

War reporter Andrei Tsaplienki explained the reason these soldiers were punished so harshly.

'In some army units, alcoholism has come to the level of an epidemic,' he said. 'So, radical measures are needed.

'To some of them, if they keep breaking discipline, the army would be ready to inform their wives about it. That is a shame many want to avoid.'

Epidemic: Alcoholism in some units of the Ukranian army has been described as an epidemic and soldiers risk being thrown out of the army

Ukrainian officials are said to be worried about soldiers being on duty while under the influence of alcohol and recently 150 litres of vodka were seized from barracks.

Some of it was homemade, having come from illegal distilleries in war-torn Peski village.

An army source said: 'Drinking in the army is a big problem, even greater now there is a ceasefire.

'There is nothing for the men to do so they drink vodka.