After the attack on Kyiv’s Ochmatdyt Children’s Hospital, an appalled Russian pilot decided to betray his now-former comrades, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
The man provided Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) details that helped identify 30 commanders from the Russian heavy bomber division.
Among the information shared were documents from the personal files of senior officers, personal data of Russian military personnel and their families, and most critically, stamped documents from the 22nd Division.
HUR received names and photographs of the commanders in this unit.
Russian forces launched 38 missiles at Ukraine on Monday, eight of which could not be intercepted. The missiles hit civilian targets, including residential buildings and two medical facilities, one of which was the Ochmatdyt Children’s Hospital.
This is the largest pediatric hospital in Ukraine, treating some of the most seriously ill children, including oncology patients.
The Russian attacks on Monday resulted in over 40 fatalities across Ukraine.
Just one?
It’s a start.
True… and frustrating.
It also helps to remember that it’s a lot easier for pilots to ignore shit. To them, it’s a blip on a screen or a faraway target. For the grunts on the ground, it’s up close and ugly. That’s why the Russians had to resort to literally shooting fleeing or deserting soldiers; the ones who have a conscience and don’t want to have to fucking kill kids have to be forced to by threat of violence and intimidation. Especially when the government knows who they are and where to find their relatives, and can thus use threats of violence against family as leverage to force people to behave. Pilots are far enough to removed from the violence that it’s easier to abstractify the horror. The same is true with any kind of standoff (long range) combatant to some degree.
I guess it indicates how much heavy conditioning Putin has going on - that the others are indoctrinated into dehumanising them so completely…
Just a thought, don’t read too much into it
Indoctrination to dehumanise the enemy is par for course for any military at war. Though Russia seems to be upping it a bit.
This is one of the reasons I find the combination of social media and war so insidious; this kind of thing spills out completely unfiltered into the civilian population and suddenly you have the armchair generals being subject to the same thing
Wow, a Russian soldier with a soul?
Sting has been wondering about that for a while now.
Kill the bastards.
