Posted on 03/06/2015 3:13:33 PM PST by free_life
The bitter conflict in Ukraine has cost thousands of lives, but the Russian government has continuously denied sending its soldiers to the frontlines, despite accusations to the contrary from NATO and Western officials.
Since August 2014, a small but steady stream of coffins began arriving in villages across Russia, containing the maimed bodies of soldiers killed in "unknown circumstances." Some would be buried hastily at night or in secret funerals, their graves zealously guarded from prying outsiders. Journalists investigating the deaths have reported being threatened with intimidation and attacks.
In cases that the Kremlin could not so easily ignore, the dead or injured have been hailed as "volunteers" who entered Ukraine on leave from the army — heroes who fought unofficially for the freedom of their Russian-speaking brethren.
VICE News travels to Russia to investigate the mysterious deaths of dozens — possibly hundreds — of active-duty Russian servicemen who are believed to have been killed in Ukraine. Accounts gathered from soldiers' families, human rights workers, and government officials cast doubt on the Kremlin narrative, revealing the unacknowledged sacrifices borne by Russia's ghost army.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.vice.com ...
LostIvan: Russian soldiers, mercenaries and terrorists in Ukraine: (2982)
http://lostivan.com/
Everything Putin does is destructive to Russians.
The mothers, fathers and wives know. Unfortunately they will not be able to speak out.
such are the blessings of conscription. I spent 20+ years in the US military voluntarily.
The dam of silence and fear will burst eventually and then the streets will fill with people. Thousands marched about Nemtsov assassination. But you are right it is a fearful and dangerous thing to be one of the first to speak out.
Ukraine is under attack. It's no secret that men are being drafted for an active conflict. Russian nationals, on the other hand, are supposedly not involved in the Ukrainian conflict. If 3000 Russians are dead, the clock is ticking for Putin's reign as the Russian supremo. He can't do the kinds of things the CPSU did to suppress information and dissent, at least not to the same degree. There is no shortage of rivals for the job of Russian leader. As the casualties mount, dissent will follow. Once the losses pass a certain threshold, his party will jettison him rather than be tarred by the costs of his aggressive policies in Ukraine.
At the same time, I'm perplexed by how Ukraine is scraping the bottom of the barrel for draftees:
As the Ukraine-Russia conflict rages on, a 49-year-old engineer received a mobilization invitation ten days ago to report to the Ukrainian Army. He left his home and now spends nights at a friend’s house, struggling with a difficult choice.
A 49-year-old? Really? You gotta figure that a population of 50m has about 25m men. Include only the 18-28 cohort, and we're looking at 3m eligible draftees. Meanwhile, the total active force is about 250K men, leaving 2.7m potential draftees. Why are they going after 49-year-olds?
Russia is falling yet you have such glee that Ukraine will go down with it. Sick!
“Why are they going after 49-year-olds?”
Because they are far more likely to be able to pay the $2-5,000 USD “Exemption Fee” to get out of conscription, than a younger man would.
The conscription boards all all “local”, so they know full well who can pay, and who can’t.
This IS Ukraine, after all.
Relevant to this thread exactly how?
Needed to quickly change the subject from Russia.
How much is Russia getting from “exemption fees”? Just curious tovarisch.
The draft dodging piece may well be one more propaganda piece if one reads the comments to the stories, some say it comes from Russian agencies and even Western News Outlets got fooled. Just be careful on what some here pass on as “news”.
Not only “irrelevant” but some people say it was disinformation and a lie to begin with, in the story that McGruff posted.
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2005/08/predicting-a-majority-muslim-russia
And Russia will be a Muslim Nation in the near future after all.
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