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Everything old is new again. In the war of the Ukraine Putin has rediscovered the Russian WW2 tactic of ‘Barrier Troops.’
Barrier troops, are units of soldiers behind an advancing unit of infantry with orders to shoot those who retreat or desert. This is shown to dramatic effect (fictionalized) in the movie Enemy at the Gates.
Of course that was in the bad old days of ‘Communism’. Surely the new Russia which has embraced Christianity and Capitalism wouldn’t do such a thing? Of course they would. In the invasion of the Ukraine Putin now has drafted unwilling Russian men and is sending them untrained and poorly equipped into certain death with troops behind them in case they try to retreat.
Russia’s war in the Ukraine has shown other resemblances to the Soviet era tactics in it’s disregard for men and materiel to achieve objectives of questionable value. Putin has shown his willingness to lose large numbers of Russian casualties. At this point it has been estimated that one out of every 250 Russian men have been killed in the battles in the Ukraine.
We need to beat the drum about not just how horrific the Russian invasion is for the people of the Ukraine, but also how horrible the Russian dictatorship is for the people of Russia.
