April 30, 2022 | by Eriс

The Dirty Business of War. Part II

Continued. Read Part I here

Russia started this war but never officially called it “war”, it is only a “special operation”. It is for political and financial reasons it seems. If you are a soldier and you are killed or maimed at war, you are entitled to financial compensation. “Special operation” isn’t a “war” officially, thus no money. Putin promised an equivalent of $100,000 for every soldier killed in battle, but many families are unlikely to see any of it. The Russian military was offered, but never collected thousands of soldier bodies scattered all over Ukraine. Reasons? A missing soldier is MIA, and MIA doesn’t mean dead. “No body” equals “no pay” to the family. Money would probably be split up among the generals. A known fact: on paydays Russian commanders don’t distribute soldier funds until after the fighting is done for the day. They pocket the salaries of those who die. Heartless conniving SOBs, if you want our opinion.

Recent loss of “Moskva”  (Moscow) rocket cruiser is a case in point. It quickly went under, after being struck by Ukrainian missiles. Its crew and military aboard are only MIAs now, with only a handful of survivors (no more than 50 out of possibly 1000+ people aboard). Russian TV was showing admirals meeting with survivors. The footage was made years before and was quickly slapped together to “minimize” losses to the public. Two days later the subject is no longer front-page news – or any news. Russia uses mobile cremation vehicles, incinerating bodies to hide war crimes. We don’t know whose bodies are being burned. Some people are not to be found ever again.

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April 27, 2022 | by Eriс

The Dirty Business of War. Part I

What we describe below was mostly collected online. Mind you, we have no military service experience, see things through layman’s eyes and have no more sources of information than anyone else. It’s all out there, on the Internet and TV.

As war in Ukraine rolls on, we get a good glimpse of who is who and how things really are. Everyone must choose sides. Almost no one can seat in two chairs, but some try.

For those of us who speak neither Ukrainian nor Russian – Google Translate to the rescue. This is a war of a million eyes, ears and opinions expressed and posted across multiple platforms. Never has mankind had a closer look at war and its consequences. Of course, other conflicts – like Syria and Iraq – got their share of coverage. But the sheer intensity of this conflict, war playing so close to Europe itself, and the number of people killed, maimed, displaced, robbed and kidnapped by the invading Russian forces is staggering. Towns flattened, thousands of civilian people have been murdered in broad daylight by the occupiers. About 30% of Ukraine’s infrastructure had been thoroughly and purposely destroyed (as of this writing). We don’t know what Putin thinks, but we know his country would have a very large tab (probably over a trillion USD) to pay for this party. Just so you know: Germany made its final reparation payments for WW I in 2010. That’s almost a century later. Why he thinks he can get away with it is beyond us. He wouldn’t.

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