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What Kind of Society Abandons Its Fallen on the Battlefield?
Ukrainians sickened by Russia’s refusal to collect soldiers killed in action
In the annals of war, the fallen soldier has been mythologized to the point that war is often sadly glorified. Poems, epic novels, films, and national holidays revolve around the sacrifices made by the scared yet brave youth on the battlefield.
Russia is of course not unlike so many other nations that have come before it. The country’s entire modern identity is pinned like a medal on an aging veteran’s chest to the victory over fascism in The Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. We call it World War II. It is the “glory” of that victory that Putin has called on to unify his nation against Ukraine.
A tremendous number of the Red Army’s soldiers, however, died during World War II as a result of friendly fire. They were cannon fodder as it was not uncommon to send thousands of soldiers to clear a German machinegun nest and then rain artillery fire down on the whole grid coordinate on the map for an hour or so.
The result would be 100 dead German invaders and thousands of dead Red Army soldiers.
A similar disregard prevails today in Russia’s unprovoked war of genocide against the Ukrainian nation.
