How should we respond to the war crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The topic that I decided to write about today is rather sensitive. Therefore, I will start with a couple of stories that many people know, but ... Stories from the life of the "landing Batya", General of the Army Margelov. The story is known to readers as "an act of retribution."
During the Soviet-Finnish War, Vasily Margelov commanded a separate reconnaissance ski battalion of the 122nd Infantry Division. A unit staffed by excellent skiers-athletes. Therefore, the battalion most often operated behind enemy lines, performing reconnaissance and sabotage missions.
Once, after returning from another raid, the battalion commander learned that Finnish saboteurs had completely destroyed our medical battalion. They killed everyone. And then Margelov acted as a commander and as a person quite maturely. He built a battalion and led to the place of the massacre, to the medical battalion. He did not say anything, he simply showed what was left of the wounded and the medical staff.
Further, the story is somewhat different, but according to the official version, the command instructed Margelov to carry out an action of retribution. The battalion went to the rear of the Finns. By morning, scouts discovered a Finnish bath and laundry detachment. The battalion commander ordered to attack ... Not a single soldier of the Finnish detachment was left alive.
And at the place of the action, the fighters scattered leaflets “Revenge for the salts for the Russian medical battalion"... For the entire duration of the war, there was not a single attack on medical and other rear units from both sides. They fought honestly, fighter against fighter ...
And another episode from the same time. The story is less known, little mentioned in the biographies of General Margelov. Probably simply because at that time we tried to “be law-abiding”, as we do today, and tried to “not notice the little things”. By the way, after this story, Vasily Margelov could indeed end up in camps for many years or be shot. For political myopia...
During the next raid, Margelov's fighters noticed a fresh ski track, and the commander decided to set up an ambush. The fire bag was quickly created, and the soldiers began to wait for the enemy. Further everything is simple. "Destroy the personnel, officers, if possible, take them alive!"
Already during the battle, Margelov noticed that part of the Finnish detachment was wearing a different uniform. Naturally, the commander ordered first of all to take these Finns alive. So 6 Swedes from the Swedish Expeditionary Volunteer Corps were captured by the scouts. Those who today in the Armed Forces of Ukraine are called volunteers of the foreign legion.
These Swedes spoiled a lot of blood for the future general of the army. How he probably regretted that he simply did not destroy these "citizens of a neutral state" on the spot. It is good that the special forces lagged behind due to the persistent recommendations of the division command, which needed such a commander.
Since the 122nd division remained the only formation in the 9th Army that escaped encirclement and heavy losses, although it did not complete its assigned tasks, the authority of the division commander was high enough to pull Margelov out of the NKVD.
And now about what I decided to write today. About the next execution of a captured Russian soldier and our reaction to this event. More precisely, on the next war crime of Ukrainian warriors.
Angels come to war only for the souls of the righteous
Unfortunately, angels do not participate in wars. They appear on the battlefield after the battle to take with them the souls of the dead soldiers. People fight in war. With all human vices and virtues. Hence the memories of the participants are often contradictory. Some describe nobility in war, others cowardice and betrayal, others atrocities and murders. And this is all war.
Another video of a war crime by a Ukrainian military man who shot a prisoner has appeared on the network. By the way, there were two more prisoners, and judging by the cries of the ukrovoyak about a grenade from one of them, their fate is exactly the same. The prisoner was shot only because he did not know the Ukrainian language! Move question, no answer, headshot.
Unfortunately, we have already begun to get used to such executions. Just get used to it. I remember a wave of indignation after the execution of Russian paratroopers by the Georgian legion during the retreat from the Kyiv region. Then there was Makiivka, Malaya Rogan, and beyond... And before these executions, there were executions of Donbass militias, then captured servicemen of the 1st and 2nd corps...
There were prisoners over whom, before exchanging for their own, the Ukrainian "specialists" worked to the fullest. From shot knees to castration. We were outraged. Today, the lame, or in general the one who is carried on a stretcher, at the meeting of prisoners, no longer raises questions from society. Like this.
The fact that the Ukrainians wanted to spit on all conventions and international treaties was known almost from the very beginning of the confrontation between Kyiv, Luhansk and Donetsk. But in the first months, Kyiv tried to somehow mask the torture and executions, hid the corpses, made statements in the style of "it's not me, but some kind of third force."
And then, when the Ukrainians realized that all these widely publicized international human rights organizations “walk on a short leash from Washington” and would never admit even obvious facts, the atrocities intensified. And executions of prisoners, including, have become commonplace. Since that time, the fighters of the Donetsk corps have been trying not to be captured.
Almost a year has passed since the beginning of the SVO. During this time, the anti-Russian and even Nazi views of Ukrainians became radicalized. The video of the last execution clearly shows that the shooter is hysterical. This is the hysteria of a Nazi who, out of fear for his life, is capable of any crime. Exactly. You can, of course, write beautifully about the state of passion ...
Unfortunately, such crimes will continue to occur. The principle of a cornered cat works here. On the one hand, hopelessness and the constant expectation of death associated with the strengthening of the Russian army and the work of Russian artillery, and on the other hand, the opportunity to vent their fears on a defenseless person.
So the problem has existed and will exist for a long time. And not only at the front, but also in the rear. The recent execution of Igor Mangushev (call sign Bereg) is a fresh example. And it needs to be solved. How? Alas, I cannot name the best and only correct solution. Just because I don't know.
What to do with war criminals?
I'll start with what is known, probably, to every reader. Impunity breeds a new crime. It is only in the movies that the criminal at some point repents on his own and becomes an ordinary citizen. The reality is somewhat different. In order for the criminal to begin to think about life, a push is needed. Or a kick as punishment.
The first thing to be done when revealing cases of criminal acts of the enemy is to make public the very fact of the crime. Usually those who do lawlessness do not like to advertise their actions very much. Therefore, the names, surnames, places of residence and other data of criminals should be widely available. So that not only we, but also his relatives and friends know about the crime.
Of course, in the Nazi-infected society of Ukraine today there are enough people who will call the killer a hero, but the rest, even if not out loud, will call the killer a killer - and this is the maximum that we can get from Ukrainians today. In the future, I hope the truth will prevail. When we will look for criminals, as it was in the post-war years.
Further, our diplomacy should work literally on all available platforms and strive to convey information about crimes to as many people as possible, and this applies not only to prisoners, but also to war crimes in general. These are shelling of residential buildings, and executions of civilians, and robberies, violence against civilians.
In addition, there is also a purely military aspect. Any war criminal has a commander who is obliged to know literally everything about the actions of his subordinates. That is, based on this, one more conclusion can be drawn. A subordinate acts either with the consent of the commander, or by order of the commander. The names of such commanders should also be known to all.
Well, the Investigative Committee. All crimes must be documented and investigated without fail. War crimes have no statute of limitations. It will not be possible to find the criminal immediately - it will be found later. Let through years, decades, but will be punished. Such work is currently underway. None of the criminals can be "forgotten".
But what should have been done “yesterday” is to remember those stories that I recalled at the beginning of the material. Punishment of criminals must be swift. If we immediately after the video of the execution of prisoners had appeared, would have sent half of the brigade where the criminals serve to the forefathers, others would have thought hard.
Don't stop and beat, beat, beat
I will not draw any new conclusions. Everything has long been voiced, discussed and accepted by society. There is a war going on between the two political systems. Ukraine and the Ukrainian army are just pawns. And they already understand it. Therein lies the danger.
Armament, equipment, reconnaissance and communications equipment, modern air defense - all this is just iron. And without the appropriate specialists is not particularly terrible. But the fact that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainian recruits feel like suicide bombers, the fact that they accuse us of this, is important. The dead man has nothing to lose. Each fight is just an extra moment of life.
But the desire to take with them as many as possible of those who are to blame for such a situation is enormous. No matter what the official representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry say, yesterday, for example, there was a real hell in the Ugledar region. This is the message of those who were there. The Russian army in the minds of Ukrainians, with the help of massive propaganda, has become what the Armed Forces of Ukraine are for Donbass.
You probably noticed how the rhetoric of the opponents of the war has changed? Today you will no longer hear the answer to the question about the future of Ukraine after the victory. Any victory, victory for either side! They are no longer interested. In any case, the life of Ukrainians will not get better after the victory.
Even the youth, whom we often accused of radicalism, no longer imagine themselves in Ukraine. Only abroad, Poland, Germany and other countries... It's really scary. A country that physically has no future. A country that even its own citizens do not like. It is terrible to see the destruction of the state from within. The destruction of the country in the minds.
Thus, it is already too late to engage in education. Appeal to logic and common sense too. Only instincts remain. Fear, lust for life, the desire to return to the family and so on ...
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