In Ukraine, Killings of Surrendering Russians Divide an American-Led Unit

 

In Ukraine, Killings of Surrendering Russians Divide an American-Led Unit

Hours after a battle in eastern Ukraine in August, a wounded and unarmed Russian soldier crawled through a nearly destroyed trench, seeking help from his captors, a unit of international volunteers led by an American.

Caspar Grosse, a German medic in that unit, said he saw the soldier plead for medical attention in a mix of broken English and Russian. It was dusk. A team member looked for bandages.

That is when, Mr. Grosse said, a fellow soldier hobbled over and fired his weapon into the Russian soldier’s torso. He slumped, still breathing. Another soldier fired — “just shot him in the head,” Mr. Grosse recalled in an interview.

Mr. Grosse said he was so upset by the episode that he confronted his commander. He said he spoke to The New York Times after what he regarded as unwarranted killings continued. It is highly unusual for a soldier to speak publicly about battlefield conduct, particularly involving men whom he still considers friends.

But he said he was too troubled to keep silent.

The shooting of the unarmed, wounded Russian soldier is one of several killings that have unsettled the Chosen Company, one of the best-known units of international troops fighting on behalf of Ukraine.

Mr. Grosse’s witness recollection is the only available evidence of the trench killing. But his accounts of other episodes are bolstered by his contemporaneous notes, video footage and text messages exchanged by members of the unit and reviewed by The Times. — The New York Times

Our Take: Everything happening makes perfect sense, in my mind.

What we are witnessing is a cadre of ruthless criminals banding together in one final stand. So it makes sense that other reprobates would join them to die on this unholy hill.

Last week, we saw reports that the Ukrainian legislature had passed a bill allowing the conscription of prisoners to serve in the dwindling military. It sounds like they will fit right in with the scumbag mercenaries who have traveled from around the world, seeking glory on the battlefield. (Go ask hardened combat veterans about the "glory" that is found in warfare.)

Should Bloomberg be concerned with the piece that Cameron Manley wrote for them a few weeks back, glorifying the "viral videos" being published by one of Ukraine's elite military units—the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade—as part of the effort to drive recruitment among foreign mercenaries.

From Manley:

"The squad emerged from the Azov Brigade, a controversial regiment founded by the right-wing politician Andriy Biletsky in 2014 that played a crucial role in the Russian siege of Mariupol in 2022. The 3rd Brigade has since become famous for its battle-hardened, fearless approach to combat."

Hey Cameron, you deceptive twit, why are you covering up the fact that the Azov Battalion—a Neo-Nazi mercenary group—was founded by a Jewish billionaire name Igor Kolomoisky? Who also happens to be an Israeli citizen and former KGB agent? Is it because that devastating truth invites unwanted questions? (We'll table that conversation for another day.)

But seriously, Bloomberg should be investigated for its role in promoting propaganda that has led to the commission of war crimes. They are, ostensibly, working on behalf of war criminals, even if unwittingly; and as any novice lawyer will tell you: ignorance of the law is not a criminal defense.

Let's stop and think about this.

Americans are leaving their children to go brutally torture and execute bound prisoners in foreign lands, merely to satiate their own sadistic bloodlust? And the corporate media and political "elite" are glorifying the exercise, and calling them "heroes?" Am I missing anything?

I said it before and I will continue to say it: The Ukraine narrative is going to get much darker and more twisted as the lies unravel and the truth shines through. The people who have canonized the criminals running Ukraine will be tainted with such shame that they may be unable to ever show their face again in public. Their hubris has betrayed them. — GhostofBasedPatrickHenry