"War started because a guy with botox thought he was an emperor"
Witness accounts from Russian soldiers are rare. As such, these words are particularly harsh, precious and poignant.
The independent Russian medium iStories, relayed by Le Grand Continent, lets us inside the mind of this Russian soldier, an anonymous witness to an imperial war waged by a Putin without borders. He spent almost a year in Ukraine before fleeing this "absurd" battle. All indications are that he was "as close to the front line as possible".
Like many volunteers, 11 months after being sent to Ukraine and receiving his first leave, the Russian soldier fled the front with the help of Go By The Forest, a Russian association founded in February 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Their aim is to provide psychological support and temporary shelter to Russian fighters who, for whatever reason, decide to leave the front.
"I joined the army as a volunteer in August 2022. I signed a short-term contract for an initial period of four months. I ended up serving for almost a year: 11 months of war, including seven in combat, where the enemy was close and shellfire was constant," reports the volunteer. Although the Defence Ministry offers volunteers contracts of between 200,000 and 250,000 roubles a month, in reality the promises made at the beginning are far from being kept: late or missing leave, soldiers staying at the front much longer than expected, delays in payment, no help for families in case of death..."
"I knew this war had started because a guy with botox thought he was an emperor. You may wonder how I can consider myself a liberal and go to war, how that fits with my views, but 99% of the people with me were volunteers and they did not hesitate to call Putin a fat ass....," the man continued. Patriots are shadows in the rear, dying as soon as the first shell hits. The men who fight for months all want to leave and never come back!"
The soldier also brings up the huge sham of the Russian army, supposedly the most powerful army! With very little training, volunteers are sent to war with little knowledge of the terrain and only a few theoretical ideas in their heads. "The defence ministry likes to talk about our mighty army, but in reality they are dicking around...!"
(FVDV and AsD for Tagtik/Source: le Grand Continent/Illustration: Pixabay)
