(With the assistance of my Ukrainian connection)
With all the war news splashed luridly across TV, computer and phone screens, and with stories about diplomats and world leaders to-ing and fro-ing and merrily bump-ing elbows, something more real is going on at ground level among the troops, Ukrainian and Russian. We seldom hear from voices in the tanks and trenches. This is where the war actually takes place.
Here are a few examples based on actual incidents:
1. The Russians were appalled at the mess Ukrainians made of their convoy of tanks and armored personnel carriers. “Look at what you’ve done to our equipment, damn you!” a Russian soldier railed at Ukrainian pedestrians passing by. “We’re sorry ...” a Ukrainian woman said, “but that’s what Javelin missiles do.”
2. Zelenskyy, a man of honor, took the names and addresses of the captured Russian soldiers, all young conscripts, and contacted their mothers, asking them if they wished to come to Ukraine and pick up their naughty boys and take them home. “Evgeny, you were such a nice boy. Now, go home and no video games for a week!”
“This was also considered a good way to get these young boys to call their mothers once in a while,” noted one Ukrainian woman to a captured Russian captain. (Ukraine humor has won me over.)
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