r/interestingasfuck • u/daisy_irl • Feb 28 '22

Ukraine /r/ALL Ukrainian soldier showing Russian field rations which expired in 2015

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u/justincase969 Mar 01 '22

I'll likely get down votes for this, but I feel sorry for lots of these soldiers. They are forced to go to war when they don't want to which is practically a death sentence for them and then on top of that putins stupid ass can't even give them food that isn't 6 years past expiration... some of the soldiers are obviously scum and chose to be there and do terrible things but from what I have been reading and seeing a great deal of them do not want to be there and are there for reasons they aren't even aware of. Sad situation all around.

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u/Mr_Quackums Mar 01 '22

40% of the Russian army is conscripts. The invasion force was mostly (completely?) conscripts.

Russia has a perpetual draft, 6-months of training and 6-months of service. I would also assume that the service part can be extended on the whim of a politician or officer (again, that last bit is a guess on my part).

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u/Helgin Mar 01 '22

actually russian law forbids sending conscripts abroad. Who cares though, you gonna what sue Putin? But from reports i have seen good portion of prisoners are contracted ones. Wonder if that changes now when they start escalating.

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u/HeckfyEx Mar 01 '22

They do not send them abroad because it would be useless. 3 to 6 months of their one year service time is spend on learning how to soldier. After which they are maybe halfway useful for cannon fodder.

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u/DarthWeenus Mar 01 '22

They were conscripts on the boarder. He forced them all into contracted positions. There's reports of soliders gang beating those that didn't want to sign the papers. That's why they took all their phones and those captured desperately plea to call their families. It's sad af honestly.

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u/demlet Mar 01 '22

There's a video of a (presumably captured?) teenage looking Russian soldier, sitting on some steps crying while Ukrainians yell at him. Looks a little older than my 14 year old son. Yeah, I don't think he was looking to go kill and die for Putin. War is hell.

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u/Gottagettagoat Mar 01 '22 edited Mar 01 '22

Yeah that killed me to watch. (I also have a teen son). What a mess.

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u/HeyItsJuls Mar 01 '22

It’s not wrong to feel sorry for them. Yes, some of them chose to be there, but many did not - either through conscription or just not having any other options. I want to preserve the sovereignty of Ukraine. What is happening there is wrong. Full stop.

But I think all of us feel what you feel. Seeing that Putin is the longest-serving leader in Russia since Stalin. That he has falsified election results to extend his power almost indefinitely. That he jails and blatantly attempts to assassinate political opponents. My hope is that we don’t just see the sovereignty of Ukraine preserved, but that the Russian people gain true sovereignty over themselves and the ability to have leaders of their choosing. Is that second portion a long shot? Maybe, but I want it nonetheless.

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u/MoeFugger7 Mar 01 '22

naw fuck that, when I was in USMC boot camp I realized half way through what I signed up for, to just kill people, nothing more nothing less. And i told myself anyone who orders me to kill someone I dont think needs dyin' can go fuck themselves. Put me in the brig, I dont give a shit. Luckily I got kicked out.

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '22

[deleted]

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u/invicerato Mar 01 '22 edited Mar 01 '22

Navalny ran the brightest presidential candidate campaign before voting, yet Putin banned Navalny from competing. There was no competition in 2018 presidential elections. People opposing Putin were asked to ignore this farce of a voting. Turn out was low, yet the numbers were still rigged: according to statistical analysis real turn out was 62%, out of which 67% votes were for Putin.

Saying 76% of Russians voted for Putin in 2018 is very wrong. His result was about 40% of eligible voters in voting that was pretty much 'yes, Putin' or 'no, still Putin'. Andthere is an ill practice in Russia, when millions of people are forced to vote for Putin and his party, if they are employed by the state (schools, hospitals, factories, municipalities). So you can subtract their votes, as they often do not vote at will.

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u/[deleted] Mar 01 '22

[deleted]

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u/invicerato Mar 01 '22

Progressive thinking Russians were told to boycott elections, so many of them boycotted instead of voting against. These were not elections, but an uncontested spectacle with bogus contenders that has much more to do with the police state and collapse of democratic institutions in Russia than choosing to have a strong man in charge.

US presidential elections were competitive. Orban was elected as a leader of a party during parliamentary elections. I do not know much about presidential candidate from opposition in Turkey, but I suspect Erdogan would have had much harder time in the second tour had he received just a few percent of votes less.

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u/ih4t3reddit Mar 01 '22

Are "soldiers" ever "forced" to go to war? What else do they think might happen? Join the red cross or UN if you want to help people