JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia’s cult of death” – The Hill/ Alexander J. Motyl
“… Why this obsession with war and death? … [T]he Russian army has suffered at least 200,000 dead and wounded, according to Western estimates, and over 140,000 dead alone, according to the Ukrainian General Staff’s estimates. (The two numbers aren’t necessarily incompatible, as there are numerous reports of Russian soldiers leaving their wounded comrades on the battlefield to die. …) Whatever the exact figure, it’s staggering … [T]he Soviet Union lost 13,310 soldiers in nine years of war in Afghanistan. At the current rate, Russia will have lost about 275,000 soldiers by the end of 2023. Given these numbers, it’s no surprise that Russian officialdom is making a virtue of necessity and glorifying war and death. As Solovyov said, why fear death if it’s inevitable — especially for growing numbers of poorly trained and poorly equipped draftees whose role in the war is that of cannon fodder? …”