"The dead have no shame." And the living
Spring is coming. And new problems begin at the forefront. So far, they are silent about them, but soon the problems will hit both us and the enemy so much that it will no longer be possible to silence them. Winter not only makes it difficult to conduct hostilities, but also hides those who die in foreign territory. Hides the corpses of the dead.
They are covered with snow, they lie under a thin layer of earth, covered with an explosion of a shell or mine. Corpses are eaten by wild animals and feral dogs. Soldiers stumble over them. And they lie. Both our and not our dead fighters are lying. They lie simply because this war is in many ways brutal.
It differs from those that were in the beginning and in the middle of the last century. Now snipers hunt not only for enemy soldiers, but also for orderlies, for funeral teams. The main thing is to kill the enemy. This is the glory of this war. Hence the bestial attitude towards the dead soldiers and officers.
I understand that for the command, and for the family of the deceased, this is not a bad idea. For some, this is an opportunity to report that there are fewer dead, there are missing people. So they were probably captured or even deserted. For others, it is the hope that their soldier is alive. It's just that in the military confusion, he can't tell where he is yet.
Yes, and "selfish interest" is present here. No confirmed death - no payouts due. Alas, but this is also a fact. How many times has this question been raised on various resources. Everyone was indignant, but... The law is what it is. Until then, he hasn't changed. So it was, and so it probably will be. So far, neither side has reported who was taken prisoner. And the corpses lie.
Why have we lost our human form?
Any war is accompanied by the death of military personnel. This is an axiom. Moreover, soldiers die in the most unexpected places. Sometimes finding the deceased is a problem. A wrecked tank or plane often becomes the grave of a serviceman. But even under these conditions, there is a whole procedure for recognizing a soldier as dead.
Today we are talking about those who died in the open field. Those who lie in the neutral zone. Those who lie in morgues on enemy territory. Those who are deliberately not removed from the battlefield, used as bait. And, alas, there are enough of them on both sides. And it's not about quantity. Even one such corpse is a person, and he demands worthy respect for himself.
We often recall past wars, comparing us today and us from the past. We compare on many indicators, except for the attitude towards the dead. We avoid this topic, pretending that this is not a significant problem at all. And it's worth comparing. Then people behaved like human beings. During the day, the battle, and at night the work of orderlies and funeral attendants. They collect the wounded, collect the corpses of the dead, so that tomorrow they can start killing again.
Even during the Second World War, shooting at orderlies and funeral crews was an out of the ordinary case. Everyone understood perfectly well why and why this must be done immediately. They also understood that getting a bullet from some psychopath is quite real. But the human prevailed over the animal.
The commanders of units and subunits were not afraid then to negotiate with the enemy about the dead. Today, I don't recall that such negotiations were conducted at all. Maybe somewhere under the carpet? I don't know. Only Wagner is somehow able to negotiate such an exchange. This I remembered the heroes-pilots. There is no trust in an officer's word today. Alas, but it is.
It would seem that it would be easier to collect the corpses of the enemy and exchange them for the corpses of our dead. Bash on bash. Everyone we could find, everyone they found. But, as it turned out, it is almost impossible today. They don't trust us, we trust them. The commanders do not believe that at “X” hour someone will not start shooting at the unarmed. In short, it is not accepted today at the forefront.
The war has fizzled out. Kill, and then at least the grass does not grow. A good opponent is a dead opponent. And it does not matter at all what will happen to this enemy next. Dogs will eat or crows will peck, it does not matter. And the soldiers walk almost over the corpses of enemies all winter. And some and on the corpses of their own comrades.
When I see footage of the enemy positions we have occupied, it is striking that there, in the trenches recently occupied by the enemy, are the corpses of long-dead soldiers. They don't even remove their own from our trenches. “The dead have no shame,” but we are alive. And Ukrainian soldiers are alive... among the dead.
In vain we think that the corpses will not take revenge. There will be, and how. And soon.
If you don't respect the dead, they will make you respect yourself.
It was not in vain that I wrote that the problem of uncleaned corpses will soon rise to its full height. The dead will take revenge on the living. The dead will make us, everyone, on both sides, respect ourselves. Forced by force. And there is no getting away from it. Spring will do its job.
The corpses will begin to decompose. Sorry for the details, but this is a medical fact, as one literary hero said. A corpse, especially in the climatic conditions of Ukraine, is a bacteriological time bomb. The warmer the weather, the higher the risk of infection for personnel and civilians.
Normal commanders have always understood this. I remember the story of my mother, who, as a very young girl, participated in the collection of the corpses of those killed in the Battle of Kursk. Then the Soviet command asked the civilian population to help. Mother, due to her age, got to collect her arms, legs, heads ...
They gathered everyone in a row and buried them in different funnels. Russians to Russians, Germans to Germans. True, there was a hitch with the tankers. Both of them were dressed in black overalls. So they buried them all together. Without parsing. Burnt corpses reconciled after death...
Why do opponents today forget the lessons of the Great Patriotic War? Why does anger deprive people of their minds? Strange, isn't it.
But no, it turned out that not everyone looks only at the sight of a machine gun or gun. There are those who have not lost their human form.
I rarely quote messages from Telegram, but in this case I will quote verbatim from the post of one of the Russian servicemen, Misha in the Donbass:
“Kind people helped me with contacts, and I contacted a fighter from 79 dshb on this topic (with the enemy).
I expressed my thoughts - at first he was stunned, but then he realized that I was not joking, and reacted positively.
Nevertheless, everything ended in nothing.
1,5 months passed, and the fighter got in touch with me and offered to resume the topic of the body swap, calculate how many we have, and conduct a one-to-one exchange. Briefly "make peace", and then cheerfully continue to kill each other.
In general, I don't mind."
I expressed my thoughts - at first he was stunned, but then he realized that I was not joking, and reacted positively.
Nevertheless, everything ended in nothing.
1,5 months passed, and the fighter got in touch with me and offered to resume the topic of the body swap, calculate how many we have, and conduct a one-to-one exchange. Briefly "make peace", and then cheerfully continue to kill each other.
In general, I don't mind."
There, on the front, in some "forest forest" (the local front-line name for the forest belt) shot through by artillery, ordinary soldiers and officers understand everything. And they see uncleaned corpses all the time. They are aware of the suffering of mothers and wives who live without any state support. They know that a soldier is a man.
I was "shocked" by the last phrase of the post. Some kind of hopelessness emanates from her. It seems that we understand everything, but we can’t do anything:
“It remains to be seen what management thinks about it. Considering the intensity of the fire, there are big doubts that everyone will happily agree to such an unpopular and very risky action.”
What happens? It turns out that simple trench warriors can agree, but commanders can’t? Although they do not walk on corpses.
Instead of conclusions
A lot changes in a war. But there are axioms of war that have not changed for thousands of years. Many tried to challenge these axioms, but this only led to big losses. I spoke about one of these axioms today. This is indeed a problem that needs to be addressed urgently, at the highest level.
Whether we like it or not, delay in this case is like death. Literally. Corpses, as sources of infection, can be perfectly used. precedents in stories are available. I don't think Pentagon advisers don't take this possibility into account. Moreover, I even admit the possibility of deliberate use of the situation by the enemy.
Negotiations will be difficult. Both to us and to Kyiv. This is an additional recognition of our own losses and the losses of the enemy. That will not have a very good effect on the image of the command and leadership of the country. But it must be done.
I do not think that the leadership will go to cover up losses. Although it is certainly possible to do so. Mass graves have not been canceled. Yes, and so many craters have been dug up that there will be enough not only for the dead, but for all the soldiers and officers of both armies combined.
Many are waiting for a specific proposal. I don't have such an offer. That's why I raised this topic so that such a proposal would appear. It doesn’t matter from whom, the main thing is that it be realizable.
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