WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Punisher: Soviet #6, from Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows, Guillermo Ortego, Nolan Woodard and Rob Steen, on sale now.
Usually, when Frank Castle has someone marked, it's a death sentence they can't escape. As seen in so many comics, movies and the Netflix series, if he sets someone in his crosshairs, they're done. It's this unflinching vengeance which has put him in so many disputes with heroes over the years, from the Defenders to that famous battle about morals and ethics he had with Captain America in Civil War.
However, Punisher: Soviet #6 wraps up by revealing Frank does have exceptions to the rule and is willing to implement a no-kill policy for certain individuals. This alternative isn't merciful, though -- it's way more brutal and leaves them begging for death.
Frank partnered with Russian Punisher Valery Stepanovich in this series; Valery has it in for a gangster called Pronchenko. Over the course of the series, it was revealed that Frank went after Pronchenko because he started up a major mafia in the U.S. Valery's beef was spread all across Europe due to the time they worked together in the Soviet army. Their relationship soured when Valery's Fifth Company was sold out by Pronchenko to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and they skinned all his compatriots. Valery was forced to watch and report home as a message to the powers-that-be.
It took Valery years to figure out what Pronchenko had done, during which he suffered more trauma. Valery decided to hunt Pronchenko himself, which led to paths crossing with Frank. In the war that broke out, Val was killed. Frank follows information to the home of a U.S. senator who's selling government secrets to Pronchenko for the black market, but rather than kill Val's enemy, Frank decides to let him live.
There are conditions. He already killed all Pronchenko's sons after making them bury Val and while he won't slaughter the Russian mob leader, he has something sadistic in store. He makes Pronchenko skin the senator to grant Val some sort of revenge and poetic justice. The senator dies of a heart attack before the job's done, but it sends Pronchenko mad. Frank has him finish the job to the point he can't think or speak, because he was never a dog of war; all he did was give orders and run missions as an admin. Frank hates people like this, who never make it to the frontlines and just gamble with people's lives. He knows plenty of them from taking orders during stints abroad with the Army in areas like Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Frank dares Pronchenko to sell him out, but he can tell the man's psyche is broken beyond repair. He leaves and months later, Pronchenko is given life in prison. He pleads insanity to avoid the death penalty but if he could talk, Frank knows he would have begged for death rather than living with this horror show. Frank ends up taking a drink of vodka for his fallen comrade, a rare occurrence -- and despite not killing Pronchenko like how Val wanted, Frank knows the pain he's suffering is much worse than a bullet through the skull. Death would have been way too easy but once more, the Punisher has a bloody solution for everything.