The other side of the special operation. What to do with prisoners
I recently wrote about the difficulties that await us during the denationalization of Ukraine. This material is in some way connected thematically with the previous article. Although he deals more with the problem that arose immediately after the start of the special operation of the Russian army and the offensive of the People's Militias of the republics. This is the problem of prisoners.
Those same prisoners, which every day becomes more and more. And who should be punished or acquitted and sent home. The problem is very complex and requires very serious work of certain structures. A cavalry charge will not solve this problem.
How, for example, to evaluate the actions of a soldier or officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who heroically defended his own positions to the last bullet, and then surrendered. He surrendered simply because he could no longer follow orders and hold the line. Is he a criminal or an honest soldier, true to his oath? Is he a criminal or not?
Or how to evaluate the actions of that Mariupol fashion model who played the role of a wounded pregnant woman after the explosion of the maternity hospital? She didn’t kill anyone, she was simply zombified by Nazi propaganda, but after publications in the West, including her art, supplies to Ukraine increased weapons and only a few arrived, but mercenaries.
Theoretically, the problem can be solved in the same way as once Alexander the Great, according to legend, solved the problem of the Gordian knot. According to the principle of a well-known saying - "you cannot wash a black dog white". Will it just be right? It seems to me that the authorities of the DPR and LPR are doing the right thing (according to rumors from sources who know the situation), which, after checking, release prisoners from the liberated regions home on receipt.
Maybe among the hundreds of “washed” whites, one “black” will come across, but it's worth it. The villages and towns will soon need working hands, smart heads, knowledgeable leaders. And it will be, among others, former captured soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Others simply do not exist. And it won't. Republics and Ukraine will have to be restored ...
Why do the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard remain combat-ready even in the conditions of encirclement?
It must be admitted that Ukrainians have learned a lot in recent years. The example of the Crimea has shown that the system of recruitment of troops that existed in Ukraine before the Russian spring in Crimea is flawed. Units and subunits formed according to the territorial principle are ineffective in real combat conditions.
Only those territorial divisions will fight well, in which, in addition to the generally accepted principles of formation, national traditions, faith, ideologies, etc. are used. In short, some additional components that bind soldiers and officers into a single family, into a single military team.
I repeat, the Ukrainian generals perfectly learned the lesson of the Crimea, when most of the military and special services remained to live and serve where they were called from. Soldiers and officers simply refused to shoot at their relatives, friends, acquaintances. They refused to destroy their own homes, their own lives.
At the same time, units of punishers, united by a single ideology, acted quite effectively. Detachments created from criminals also showed their effectiveness. Alas, to a large extent just as punishers. And the detachments of foreign nationalists? All these Georgian, Chechen and other "national battalions" are still active today.
Over the past few years, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been formed according to a mixed principle. The bulk of the Russian-speaking regions, simply because the mentality of "Russian Ukrainians" is more suitable for war than the mentality of the villagers from western Ukraine, but officers from the western regions, as well as military chaplains of the Uniate Church, serve in the units without fail, and in the trenches As you know, there are no atheists.
In short, in any unit there is a backbone that is engaged precisely in the ideological indoctrination of personnel. It is these people who today perform the functions of the Ukrainian version of the special officers in the units. They "strengthen the morale" of the soldiers, up to the execution of deserters and those trying to go over to the side of the enemy.
The nationalists from the National Guard are even more cynical. Have you ever wondered why the same Azov regiment in Mariupol remains combat-ready for quite a long time? "Casket", as always, "just opens". "Azov" is constantly replenished at the expense of local youth.
This is done quite simply. Gather youth and offer to become heroes. Those who do not agree are immediately declared separatists, and according to the laws of war... The rest of the "volunteers" are sent to the line of contact and fight in the forefront.
It is clear that these young men think that they are the most cunning of all and desert in the very first battle, but... The reality is that they have only two ways after the first battle. Either to the grave, or you become the same punisher as the rest. You are a member of the flock ... True, in the vast majority of cases, given the military training of freshly minted fighters, temporary.
The number of prisoners will increase
Sometimes it is strange to read seemingly analytical materials in which the issue of increasing the number of prisoners is considered at the high school level. We win, and therefore there are more prisoners. Alas, of course, military victories do increase the number of prisoners and deserters in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard, but they are not a decisive factor.
Prisoners can be quite clearly divided into categories, by reasons for surrender, by places of conscription, and so on. This is necessary to understand the reasons for the surrender and further actions in relation to the surrendered.
So, the first category is those who went to serve out of hopelessness, due to the lack of a decent job, a normal salary. These are those who do not really pose a danger and can be released on parole home.
For example, I will tell you a very simple and understandable history one soldier of the 53rd brigade. The name of the soldier is Alexander (for obvious reasons, I will not name the names of the soldiers and officers), he was drafted from Severodonetsk, surrendered in Novoignatovka as part of a group of contract soldiers like him.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of such stories. It is clear that for Alexander, service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine was just a way to earn money for the family. No ideological or patriotic reasons underlay his decision. He was not going to fight, and therefore, at the first opportunity, he deserted and surrendered.
Another category is those who escaped from the boilers and are trying to get through to their own. Usually these are soldiers called up from other areas who are trying to get to their native places. Units actually abandoned by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and fighting offline. Without communication with the command, without supplies, without equipment and ammunition.
An example is the 58th Motorized Brigade. The network today is full of videos about how the soldiers of this separate “nominal” brigade evaluate their commanders, personally Zelensky and all the others who drove them to this war. It is one thing to sit in prepared positions, another thing to march under constant enemy fire.
The captured fighters surrendered after the brigade suffered heavy losses. It was simply pointless to continue resistance. Here is what one of the surrendered said (I quote from a video from the network):
A similar situation happened with a platoon of marines on the outskirts of Mariupol. I managed to listen to the marines radio communications after two failures of the British NLAW complexes. Thank you friends. I think the British military hiccuped for quite some time. But the platoon surrendered!
The next category is fighters who give up simply because they do not want to fight for an incomprehensible power, for a strange president, for the interests of some other states. Usually these are those who are far from the Donbass. Most often, somewhere near Kiev or in the areas of operation of the V group.
So, the capital's elite 14th Motorized Brigade. A company of this brigade, led by Major Ivan S., entered the area of the Russian checkpoint (Nikolaevka region). The company in full force surrendered to the Russian troops. Ivan S. explained his act by his unwillingness to fight "for Zelensky's fascist regime." Other than that, he just wanted to save the lives of the conscript soldiers.
Well, the last category. These are professional military men who understood the futility of resistance in the current situation. Again an example from the same 14th Motorized Brigade.
Approximately in the same area, he surrendered to the ZKP brigade. 61 one person, most of which are senior officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Let me remind you that this is an elite metropolitan brigade, with selected, repeatedly tested personnel. These officers understood perfectly well what fate the global West had in store for them.
As you can see, every soldier or officer who surrenders has his own story. Your motives. Your difficult and dangerous path of enlightenment.
What's next?
The operation continues. If everything is more or less clear on the territory of the LPR and DPR, then where the Russian Armed Forces operate, problems are just beginning. And these problems are not related to the actions of the military. There are no complaints about the soldiers and officers. Only pride for our heroes.
I have already written about how quickly the views of Ukrainians on the surrounding reality are changing. Yesterday, ardent patriots and opponents of Russia have suddenly become ardent opponents of the Kiev regime and supporters of Moscow today. Today, those who are in captivity talk about personal reasons why they could not fight the authorities.
Indeed, it is easy to talk about struggle, about heroism, being far from the war. It's easy to talk about fighting the regime when it doesn't threaten you personally. The years of propaganda, the years of a massive attack on the brains of Ukrainians cannot be canceled, cannot be ignored. So I'll refrain from judging. I will consider the impact of propaganda as a disease.
Those soldiers and officers who stopped fighting are still on their way to recovery. They mature slowly and gradually. By the way, just like those who have already ended up in the liberated territories. It would seem a simple, well-known TV. How many new people learn about life in Donetsk or Luhansk. How many new things they learn about Crimea, about Russia.
Probably, those who are now out of the war, those who have surrendered, who are already at home or are waiting for the end of the operation to go home, will have to become the basis of a new Ukraine. Naturally, in the regions where they come from. Scorched by war have a special character. A different view of the world. It is these people who will be needed at a time when it will be necessary to tear the veins, restoring the country.
PS
Another issue that needs to be addressed urgently.
The special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine is developing according to plan. But every day it becomes clear that without the help of the Russian army, even for a limited period, the Ukrainians will not be able to eliminate the fascist regime. Alas, but too deeply this ideology has taken root in society. For too long we have looked through our fingers at how the Ukrainians have been reformatted.
In what form it is necessary to ensure the presence of Russia in Ukraine, it does not matter. Whether these will be temporary garrisons in cities, military-civilian commandant's offices or military bases is not for us to decide. This is the business of the country's top leadership and the Armed Forces. But it must be remembered that in power, in managing something, there is no vacuum. Any void is quickly filled with something.
There are already examples of how the former authorities are being restored in the liberated territories. A kind of light-fascist version of power ... Metastases remain, and they must be urgently removed in an operative way. It's worth thinking about.
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