Uhhhh Covid?
I suspect it was like the story a Russian friend told me of her uncle in WW2. When Stalingrad was under siege, the Soviets went into the prisons and gave the prisoners the choice of 1) being shot; or 2) running in front of the Russian lines to draw sniper fire so the Rus Army could locate the German snipers and hit them. He took the latter option, was hit several times, but survived.