One captured Russian soldier says he worries about what will happen if he is returned to Russia in a prisoner swap. “If I have the opportunity, I’ll refuse to be exchanged." Another fighter reported that a doctor declared him unfit for combat after he was wounded in March, but his commander ordered him back to the front.
Propaganda is pretty effective no matter where you are in the world. It's why many soldiers can do horrible shit to civilians in occupied territory and only later realize that they did something terrible. Here's hoping we start hearing about Russian mutinies from more soldiers with similar realizations.
I have a Russian friend and no matter what, i can't make him understand he is believing in propaganda. He says he wouldn't want to betray his whole family. I hope someday he understands.
I know exactly what you mean. I live since 10 years in #China and it is unbelievable what people think when they have no access to independent news. Even if they got access after some time, they're not going to believe it, because it's so different from what they got thought the reality is.
It's easy to be skeptical of propaganda from the outside looking in, but once your immersed in it then it can be difficult to parse out reality from fiction.
Case in point look at shockingly large percentage of americans, many even from the north, who will argue the civil war was a matter of states rights. Hell the US went to war against Iraq and it initially had strong support because we were still reeling from 9/11.
It's important to always keep in mind that NOBODY is immune to propoganda or group think, nobody is above the narrative, and the people who think they are tend to be particularly vulnerable.
Who do you think gets captured and tossed into POW camps? This guy's just some rank & file grunt who was either stupid enough to volunteer or unlucky enough to get drafted. In either case, I find it hard to blame him for being disillusioned after getting shipped off into a meatgrinder and realizing that reality didn't measure up to the state propaganda.
Hopefully these sadsacks manage to take something home from the experience that can stop the next war from happening before it wastes more young lives.
I can remember a couple decades ago I was talking to my grandmother and she said that for the most part people trusted the gov't. Until my dad's friends started coming back from Vietnam and spitting truth. I hope enough Russians go back and spread the word, but I worry that not enough will be alive to even go back.
Add comment