Russian-Ukrainian war in the Donbas is continuing. But the Russian militants, fighters for the "Russian world," especially those from the first wave, have already been shown their place. And this place is the desert of oblivion; that is no one wants to see them, or – even better – hear about them ever again.
Gone are the days when the Russian president personally lit candles for the “heroes of Novorossiya.” Russian TV does not highlight this segment of Russian society anymore. But until recently, many of them were the leading propaganda characters; and the Russians reveled in colorful, albeit fictional, stories of the struggle with the "Ukrainian fascists."
It turns out that the Russian saying "The Russians never give up on their kind” is an outright lie
It appears that no one needs these "heroes" back home, just as the "Russian patriots" captured by the Ukrainian military and now serving sentences in prison. And that’s when the militant talking heads who used to star in propaganda TV shows suspected that they’ve been fooled all the way: a former militant leader Igor Girkin described this as "outstanding infamy" of the Russian authorities. It turns out that the Russian saying "the Russians never give up on their kind” is an outright lie.
According to the Russian militants, calling themselves the "veterans of Donbas," there are hundreds of Russian citizens doing time in Ukraine for their participation in the war against the Ukrainian army. Obviously, these are the Russian citizens who, according to Russia's permanent representative to the OSCE, had come to Ukraine to visit their relatives and “went missing.” And this is not counting the even greater number of Ukrainian collaborators, who believed in the "Russian world." In Moscow, they are lovingly referred to as "political prisoners," who took up arms to fight against their own country for the sake of neighboring state. Now, no one cares about the fate of these individuals – neither in Russia, nor in terrorist-controlled pseudo-republics in Donbas, for which they, in fact, have shed blood. They have been crossed out from the new life. Using the vocabulary of the militants – they’ve been “zeroed.”
Nobody is going to facilitate their release, save them, or at least swap them. By the way, the problem of the Ukrainian authorities with this “exchange fund” consisting of terrorists is that Russia does not care about these people. If we remember the developments around bargaining for Nadia Savchenko, at one moment it became clear that the Russian side was only interested in an arms trade baron Victor Bout, who is serving his sentence in the United States. Yes, it’s Bout – not some "defenders of the Russian world." And only did the issue of the exchange of the Russian GRU officers Yerofeyev and Alexandrov get on the Russian agenda, due to publicity of their trial provided by the Ukrainian media.
The families of the killed and severely injured "fighters" have predictably received no social benefits, nor privileges, nor status.
But the problem of the "terrorist heroes" lies in the fact that, upon their return to Russia, it turns out that no one is embracing them. Moreover, if they try to get some benefits for their "heroism" or a pension for the lost limbs, the authorities tell them: "We have not sent you there." The militants and their supporters would suggest that, say, as there are no independent media in Russia and they are working on the Kremlin's orders, all that the Russians saw on TV can be taken as the official position of the State – including, as a call of the authorities to go and "defend Russia, the Russians and the interests of the Russian world." Perhaps it really is the case. However, two years into the conflict, these people are being told categorically: those who watched TV simply misunderstood the message… No one really said that "Motherland is calling," and neither did anyone vow that "Motherland will not forget."
The families of the killed and severely injured "fighters" have predictably received no social benefits, nor privileges, nor status. And most importantly, these people have not received any moral support - their "feat" boiled down to murder and robbery. But they must have wished to become heroes, for the kids to give them cloves for the holidays...
Ironically, because of all of this, Girkin becomes perhaps the only real opponent and critic of the Kremlin and personally of its chief. Indeed, the liberals, so much hated in Russia, scold Putin for economic shortcomings and aggressive foreign policy moves, but only Girkin’s followers actually accuse him of betraying the Russians [at a press conference April 18, Igor Girkin called on President Putin to step down in order not to bear responsibility anymore for the fate of the Russian citizens detained in Ukraine]. And this is a much more serious thing for the Russian society, overheated with own "greatness and victories." The message is simple: if you can’t fight and kill for the "protection" of Russians, you’ve got to get down from that throne.
The enemies of Ukraine, upon their return to Moscow and other Russian cities, turn to openly admiring the Ukrainian State, the one they fought against. Ukraine has done all it could to provide for the return of Nadia Savchenko back home, and there is every reason to believe that this story will have a happy ending. The Ukrainian veterans are real heroes and an example for the whole Ukrainian society.
What about Russia? Having returned home after a dose of fighting, those “veterans” have already found themselves in complete isolation. In a year or two, no one will even give them, miserable panhandlers, a ruble on a subway, as the Russians will despise participants of this war.
Roman Tsymbaliuk, Moscow
