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The return of violent soldiers from Ukraine is causing the Kremlin great concern. A Putin confidant fears that Russian civil society is not prepared for the veterans.
Moscow – Since the beginning of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been superior in terms of both weapons and the number of soldiers. While Ukraine has around 900,000 soldiers at its disposal, according to estimates, Russia has around 1.3 million active soldiers and around two million reservists. But how society will receive the armed forces after they return from the front in Ukraine War return is now a concern for the Kremlin.
To have more soldiers: Russia released criminals from prison for Ukraine war
Many of the armed forces in the Ukraine war, both on the Ukrainian and Russian sides, are not trained soldiers. While Ukraine relied primarily on civilians for defense against the aggressor, Putin In addition, the Russian president recruited criminals from the Russian penal colonies and promised them a pardon in return for their service at the front. As the portal Medusa reported, this decision is already having an impact on security in Russia.
At a meeting in July with key Kremlin officials, Sergei Kiriyenko, deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, is said to have admitted that many Russians only wanted to escape prison through the serviceSome of them committed further crimes after returning from Ukraine, including murder and rape. The Russian independent media claims to have learned this from two people present at the meeting and another source close to the Kremlin.
Putin ally speaks at meeting with Kremlin politicians about concerns of violent war returnees
Russian veterans are said to have killed at least 107 people and seriously injured at least 100 others, reports the portal Verstka in April. This is likely to stir up resentment and fear among the general population. “Society is not prepared,” one of the Kremlin governors present is said to have said. Medusa said at the meeting in July. Kirijenko fears that the returning soldiers could pose the “greatest political and social risk” for the country. Not only ex-prisoners, but also other veterans would “badly” integrated into civilian life.
Kiriyenko, who is already being speculated by some Russia observers as Putin’s successor, said that Russian war veterans returning to Ukraine suffer a different fate than those who returned from the Soviet-Afghan war or World War II. The reason for this is that Russian society only watched the Ukraine war “on television” and, without direct war experience in its own country, is not prepared to “understand and accept” the veterans.
Has Putin not considered the social consequences of the Ukraine war? “New elite” creates fear in Russia
The Kremlin fears that the ex-soldiers will become disillusioned with civilian life over time and form criminal groups. This could also be due to the psychological consequences of war. According to Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister and Putin relative Anna Tsivileva, every fifth soldier returning from the front suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But in Russia there are not enough psychologists trained to treat PTSD, reports Medusa.
As the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes that Putin had “probably given little thought to the long-term social consequences” of the war before invading Ukraine. But the armed uprising of the Wagner Group 2023 has shown how discontent among Russian military personnel can become an immediate threat to Putin’s regime.
The Russian authorities do not want to publicly criticize the soldiers who fought for Putin in the Ukraine war. Crimes committed by them are no longer allowed to be mentioned in Russian media. Putin, however, publicly describes the war returnees as the country’s “new elite.” (nbe)
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