Hunter Ripley Rawlings's Blog: Tactical Talk

War Zone Diary #32 – Ripley’s Heroes Financial Friday. Week ending 20 May, 2022.

From the CEO:
We are immensely gratified for you, our individual heroes, for your solid support and donations to the front line heroes we are all supporting.  We are still awaiting non-Profit status, the process is long and arduous, but we believe it will be approved soon and is the right thing for Ripley’s Heroes. In the meanwhile, we remain a fully licensed LLC so we can operate, and operate fully in the light of day; with government approval and with ALL our financial information visible to state and U.S. Government authorities. We are accountable to the Government, but responsible to YOU our donors. Me and my team at Ripley’s Heroes CANNOT express enough our thank you for your contributions and well wishes as we continue to grow to fully realize our mission statement. Most importantly, thank you for the trust you’ve placed in us to use your donations wisely and where they really matter most to end this war quickly.

Statement from the CFO:
We are thrilled to have completed our first 30 days of operation and wanted to let you know how grateful we are for YOUR donations and provide you with information on how they are being used.

Financial Discussion:
During the first thirty days we are humbled to report Ripley’s Heroes has taken in Donations from just over 3,100 individuals with our average donation just over $80. Our donors have come from 54 different countries. The majority of our donors are from the US (approx. 64%) followed by the United Kingdom (8%), Germany (5%) and Canada (5%) with no other country making up more than 5%. None of the donations to date have come from business entities instead we have been funded 100% by individual donors.

We have spent approximately 67% of the funds raised to date. There are no salaries or costs charged to Ripley’s Heroes for any of the administrative personnel – the only admin costs we have incurred during this time have been related to fees charged by the donation processors and those are approx. 3% of the total donated. All other amounts have been expended on Mission Related Programs.

Our program related expenditures to date can be broken into several categories: Night Vision and Thermal Optics (51%), Vehicle Purchases (37%), Travel Reimbursements for Legion Members (Gas and transportation – auto, bus, car, rail and plane) and Medical Volunteers (5%), Medical Supplies (4%), and Misc Equipment and Supplies for Legion Members (3%) (combat harnesses, carabineers, gear bags, large packs, etc).

WZD#28 – Death of a Ukrainian T-64

I think there are things in war that are primeval, but also so ubiquitous to combat that a part of the human brain is hard-wired to know what they are–even if they haven’t yet been experienced. One of those is the smell of burned and decaying human flesh. It’s a vile scent, and you know in a heartbeat what it is. But you don’t know how you know. Once you’ve smelled it though, and fully reconciled what it is, it never leaves your nose. It lingers there forever like an evil specter.

         North and west of Kyiv are three picturesque towns. Three slices of Ukrainian, middle class suburbia, one called Bucha. Or it was called Bucha. Now it’s a pile of mess. I’m with two friends, I’ll call them S. and T. We’re going to visit S’s friend, an orthodontist who buried his dad in the front of his apartment down by the stairs near the entryway garden. S. says the Ortho was very specific as to where his dad was buried ‘in the front of his apartment down by the stairs near the entryway garden.’ On the ride over, my friend S. speculates that the Ortho is worried something might happen to him and then no one would know where his dad was buried. 

        Regardless, S. says the Ortho won’t leave his dad for fear someone will dig him up and bury him in the cemetery with the mass graves and he’ll never find him again. So my friend S. agreed to come over and talk with him a while before the medical team from Kyiv arrives to remove the man’s father for a proper burial. We went with him. Because sharing the burdens of misery is what real friends do.

         I recall all this just so you understand the mood in the car. Somber doesn’t cut it. We drive past wrecked vehicles, a blown-to-shreds middle school, over a mostly collapsed bridge and through places where terrible local legends have already formed.

         “Hey, this is that location where that couple was trying to escape, and they gunned them down. Did you see the video?”

         “Yeah, I saw it.” I say and look out the window with a frown.

         We drive past the spot, each man staring at the big greasy burn mark and metal debris where freedom and hope tried to drive out from under evil’s onslaught and were savagely obliterated by Russian gunfire. You can go see the video if you like – because unlike past wars, this one is going to leave graphic legacies of human suffering as never before.

         “There’s another tank. Let’s stop and look at this one.” says S.

         “It’s not theirs. That’s one of ours.” I say. Already a theirs and an ours has formed in my mind even though I’m not Ukrainian. Spend ten minutes here and you’ll have no problems taking sides either. This is the lowest form of inhumanity. This is the full combat power of a nation set loose on a public like uncaged hyenas in a zoo. No one deserves this and truly war is hell.

         “How do you know?” asks T.

         I don’t know, I just do.

        “We fought the Soviets in all my military schools, and I have them all memorized. Mostly all.” I add, because I thought I’d forgotten those things or in case I’m wrong. “It has the hull and turret markings of a T-64. I think the Russian’s only had T-72s in this part of their advance.”

S. slows up the vehicle and so do our friends in the car behind. Everyone looks. Everyone gets out. Reluctantly, I do too. It’s clear to me how and why this tank was killed. I know why, because too many other times I’ve been the guy inside the armored vehicle who thinks he’s found a lucky spot. I explain it all to S. and T. In this case, the T-64 was rolling back and forward, covering both axes of this intersection. I look down the road. A knocked out BTR and a T-72 tank hull with its turret popped confirms my instinct. The T-64 scored some good shots, made some kills and thought he had the magic, lucky spot. But that only works a few times. Then you have to move on. And these guys didn’t. They stayed in the lucky spot a little too long. Because, you see, in combat luck is everything, but you can curse your own luck by thinking you’re invincible. Because you are not.

         I smelled it as soon as we were ten feet from the tank. Burned, dead and rotting human flesh. Lord knows, I’ve seen enough dead bodies to last a lifetime. Times ten. But it’s different when it’s your own guys. You realize they’re dead and a million thoughts cross your mind at once. And you realize that if you don’t do your job, it just as well could be your buddies or you next. That’s usually how most veterans lose the first layer of the ‘invincibility’ armor. Eventually it all goes away and it’s just you and some asshole trying to kill you. And you’re not going to be the one dying, and neither will your buddies, or your unit, or your tribe… so you kill the son-of-a-bitch first.

         One of our friends from the vehicle behind hasn’t gotten the word and goes to a corner next to the tank to take a whiz. Everyone halts him loudly and explains. His face goes from ‘wtf’ to ‘oh shit.’ Then everyone parades solemnly past, like an open air casket in a funeral parlor and stares at the dead T-64. We peer inside. Torn, burnt, twisted, seared, melted nothingness. There’s no form to most of what’s there. Maybe a few things catch my eye as some familiar military item, but really, it’s just burned beyond all recognition.

         “How did it happen?” asks T.

         “Missile hit here.” I point to a penetration mark. “It went through this side of the turret and ignited the ammunition storage rack on the other side.” The turret had popped off in the resultant explosion and landed nearly perfectly back on the hull. From afar it still looked intact.

         A neighbor comes over to ask who we are. The guys explain about the father buried in the yard and the man makes the sign of the cross and proceeds to tell them about the T-64. People trade stories about suffering here. We all have a simultaneous and unintendedly synchronous moment of silence and then get back in our cars.

         “What did the guy say?” I ask.

         “He said what you said.” says T.

         S. starts in, “He said there were seven-

         “Eight.” interrupts T.

         “Ya, eight guys were riding on the top of the tank. He’d been watching them out his window. He stayed here during the fight.” S. doesn’t finish the story and goes silent.

         “Then they got hit.” I finish. More of a statement than a question.

         “Yeah,” says T, “He’s been picking up the pieces for the past two days. He’s waiting for the medical team to come and collect their parts. He has them mostly collected over there in garbage bags but warned us he didn’t think he’d found everything.”

         “Yeah, no shit.” I say under my breath. No shit.

         We drive onward to where the Orthodontist’s dad is waiting for us, in the front of his apartment down by the stairs near the entryway garden.

         None of this needed to happen.

         And there’s the smell, back again.

Author’s Note: I have pictures of this T-64, but I won’t show them. Probably should just delete them, though I know I won’t. Besides hiding my friend’s names, I also altered the Orthodontist’s profession to preserve his dignity. He is battling some alcohol problems right now and doesn’t need the scrutiny.

WZD#28 – Death of a Ukrainian T-64

I think there are things in war that are primeval, but also so ubiquitous to combat that a part of the human brain is hard-wired to know what they are–even if they haven’t yet been experienced. One of those is the smell of burned and decaying human flesh. It’s a vile scent, and you know in a heartbeat what it is. But you don’t know how you know. Once you’ve smelled it though, and fully reconciled what it is, it never leaves your nose. It lingers there forever like an evil specter.

         North and west of Kyiv are three picturesque towns. Three slices of Ukrainian, middle class suburbia, one called Bucha. Or it was called Bucha. Now it’s a pile of mess. I’m with two friends, I’ll call them S. and T. We’re going to visit S’s friend, an orthodontist who buried his dad in the front of his apartment down by the stairs near the entryway garden. S. says the Ortho was very specific as to where his dad was buried ‘in the front of his apartment down by the stairs near the entryway garden.’ On the ride over, my friend S. speculates that the Ortho is worried something might happen to him and then no one would know where his dad was buried. 

        Regardless, S. says the Ortho won’t leave his dad for fear someone will dig him up and bury him in the cemetery in the mass graves and he’ll never find him again. So my friend S. agreed to come over and talk with him a while before the medical team from Kyiv arrives to remove the man’s father for a proper burial. We went with him. Because sharing the burdens of misery is what real friends do.

         I recall all this just so you understand the mood in the car. Somber doesn’t cut it. We drive past wrecked vehicles, a blown-to-shreds middle school, over a mostly collapsed bridge and through places where terrible local legends have already formed.

         “Hey, this is that location where that couple was trying to escape, and they gunned them down. Did you see the video?”

         “Yeah, I saw it.” I say and look out the window with a frown.

         We drive past the spot, each man staring at the big greasy burn mark and metal debris where freedom and hope tried to drive out from under evil’s onslaught and were savagely obliterated by Russian gunfire. You can go see the video if you like – because unlike past wars, this one is going to leave graphic legacies of human suffering as never before.

         “There’s another tank. Let’s stop and look at this one.” says S.

         “It’s not theirs. That’s one of ours.” I say. Already a theirs and an ours has formed in my mind even though I’m not Ukrainian. Spend ten minutes here and you’ll have no problems taking sides either. This is the lowest form of inhumanity. This is the full combat power of a nation set loose on a public like uncaged hyenas in a zoo. No one deserves this and truly war is hell.

         “How do you know?” asks T.

         I don’t know, I just do.

        “We fought the Soviets in all my military schools, and I have them all memorized. Mostly all.” I add, because I thought I’d forgotten those things or in case I’m wrong. “It has the hull and turret markings of a T-64. I think the Russian’s only had T-72s in this part of their advance.”

S. slows up the vehicle and so do our friends in the car behind. Everyone looks. Everyone gets out. Reluctantly, I do too. It’s clear to me how and why this tank was killed. I know why, because too many other times I’ve been the guy inside the armored vehicle who thinks he’s found a lucky spot. In this case, the T-64 was rolling back and forward, covering both axes of this intersection. I look down the road. A knocked out BTR and a T-72 tank hull with its turret popped confirms my instinct. The T-64 scored some good shots, made some kills and thought he had the magic, lucky spot. But that only works a few times. Then you have to move on. And these guys didn’t. They stayed in the lucky spot a little too long. Because, you see, in combat luck is everything, but you can curse your own luck by thinking you’re invincible. Because you are not.

         I smelled it as soon as we were ten feet from the tank. Burned, dead and rotting human flesh. Lord knows, I’ve seen enough dead bodies to last a lifetime. Times ten. But it’s different when it’s your own guys. You realize they’re dead and a million thoughts cross your mind at once. And you realize that if you don’t do your job, it just as well could be your buddies or you next. That’s usually how most veterans lose the first layer of the ‘invincibility’ armor. Eventually it all goes away and it’s just you and some asshole trying to kill you. And you’re not going to be the one dying, and neither will your buddies, or your unit, or your tribe… so you kill the son-of-a-bitch first.

         One of our friends from the vehicle behind hasn’t gotten the word and goes to a corner next to the tank to take a whiz. Everyone halts him loudly and explains. His face goes from ‘wtf’ to ‘oh shit.’ Then everyone parades solemnly past, like an open air casket in a funeral parlor and stares at the dead T-64. We peer inside. Torn, burnt, twisted, seared, melted nothingness. There’s no form to most of what’s there. Maybe a few things catch my eye as some familiar military item, but really, it’s just burned beyond all recognition.

         “How did it happen?” asks T.

         “Missile hit here.” I point to a penetration mark. “It went through this side of the turret and ignited the ammunition storage rack on the other side.” The turret had popped off in the resultant explosion and landed nearly perfectly back on the hull. From afar it still looked intact.

         A neighbor comes over to ask who we are. The guys explain about the father buried in the yard and the man makes the sign of the cross and proceeds to tell them about the T-64. People trade stories about suffering here. We all have a simultaneous and unintendedly synchronous moment of silence and then get back in our cars.

         “What did the guy say?” I ask.

         “He said what you said.” says T.

         S. starts in, “He said there were seven-

         “Eight.” interrupts T.

         “Ya, eight guys were riding on the top of the tank. He’d been watching them out his window. He stayed here during the fight.” S. doesn’t finish the story and goes silent.

         “Then they got hit.” I finish. More of a statement than a question.

         “Yeah,” says T, “He’s been picking up the pieces for the past two days. He’s waiting for the medical team to come and collect their parts. He has them mostly collected over there in garbage bags but warned us he didn’t think he’d found everything.”

         “Yeah, no shit.” I say under my breath. No shit.

         We drive onward to the front of his apartment down by the stairs near the entryway garden where the Orthodontist’s dad is waiting for us.

         None of this needed to happen.

         And there’s the smell, back again.

Author’s Note: I have pictures of this T-64, but I won’t show them. Probably should just delete them, though I know I won’t. Besides hiding my friend’s names, I also altered the Orthodontist’s profession to preserve his dignity. He is battling some alcohol problems right now and doesn’t need the scrutiny.

War Zone Diary#24 – Bad Ass Special Operations Unit takes over my Twitter account

Hey All, there’s a unit I linked up with in Ukraine comprised of Veteran U.S., U.K. and Norwegian Special Forces guys who have an excellent story to tell you. Actually, it’s ongoing, meaning they are fighting right now as we speak (Mar 30, 2022).

I’m going to post up some stuff about them here, but please understand they want complete anonymity. They are complying with the Ukraine MODs press guidance for operational security and have an SSO. They sanitize their photos (though some identifiers are still left) by #1 blacking out their faces, #2 generifying the data in some posts, and #3 removing location data and/or delaying posts until they are not in the same location(s).

Please follow them on Twitter (@RipRawlings), Instagram, FaceBook and TikTok to get updates up to the minute.

Here are some basics they provided, because I know you’ll ask:
1). Who are you?
+We’re all former special forces from our countries. We varied in rank from Sergeant to Staff Sergeant. We were in our Nation’s Army and Marine Corps.
2). What units were you with?
+Varied, but we’re not ready to release that. We may have more info about our units soon.
3). What are your specialties?
+Varied, but reconnaissance, we have two former snipers, one of us is a missile-man/AT gunner, and most of us have demo training.
4). Why are you doing this?
+Slava Ukraini. That means “Glory to Ukraine.” We believe that statement. We believe Ukraine was a peaceful nation, it had it’s flaws, but they didn’t deserve to get attacked by Russia. The innocent lives we’ve seen smashed in our 4-weeks in Ukraine have proven to us we were right. Russia has committed horrendous atrocities and they need to be repelled and held accountability. That’s it. We are pissed that the world let it com to this.
5). What do you think of behavior during this conflict.
+We don’t do politics. The innocent lives here don’t do politics. We just care about doing our part to right this terrible wrong.
6). What are you up to next?
+So, obviously we can’t talk about operations, but we’re assigned to a Ukrainian SOF unit and we’re kicking ass. I think you’ll get the gist of what we’re up to on Twitter. Our brother in arms, Lt Colonel Rip Rawlings is helping us with equipment shortages and to stay up to date; sending us questions from any legit people around the world who ask. We don’t mind getting the stories of our compatriots out to people, we think recording this war is important. The Russians have done a LOT of evil shit and we want to kick them in the junk and let the world see it and record their war crimes against the innocent people of Ukraine. All in all, we’re pretty damn busy on a daily basis. We’ll send pictures and small updates as we can.

Thanks for following us and sharing!
See you on the battlefield.
-the Dirty Dozen

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is Rip, I’m in touch with the guys 4 or 5 time daily. I’ll post their stories, pix and random musings from the battlefield on Twitter.

The post WZD#24 – Bad Ass Special Operations Unit appeared first on Rip Rawlings.

War Zone Diaries#20 – War Motorcycle Smugglers Studs

So this is pretty bad ass. Read on if you like to hear about studs doing tough stuff to help fight the war in Ukraine.

Motorcycles and war go together like gun-grease and Bullitts – just ask Steve McQueen.

I have owned motorcycles since I was 15-1/2 and used motorcycles extensively during my service in the Marine Corps. Most militaries do. Though it may seem anachronistic, you can immediately understand the advantages: speed, stealth and maneuverability. There are very few armies who would waste a heavy munition, like an anti-tank round, on a motorcycle. A helicopter can track a motorcycle but it’s hard to engage, and most infantry are not prepared for the speed in which a motorcycle shows up on the battlefield and then disappears in a cloud of dust.

Their uses are many: bringing in of critical supplies at crucial points in a battle; delivery of timely overlays and dispatches, issuing orders to troops otherwise cut off; emergency evacuation of a semi-ambulatory casualty; or nab some high-value piece off the battlefield when things get too hot; think – the enemy General’s captured laptop that is only valid for a few hours and needs to get back to the intel guys. Or just strap on a handful of NLAW anti-tank missiles and speed them to that unit who just spotted Russian armor advancing on their battlespace. They are amazing in urban warfare setting, like the Ukraine of today. Yeah, motorcycles and combat go together like horses and cavalry charges.

So, here’s the story: I caught up with this stud dude who races dirt bikes (see face blurred picture). He was standing next to a load of bikes tied to a trailer and was about to cross the border. I asked if I could chat with him and hear what he was up to. Probably not self-explanatory, but there is a LOT of traffic here at the border into Ukraine and a lot of legal, and illegal shit is passing by on a minute-by-minute basis. I have a separate diary entry on this you may be interested in. The nexuses in this war funnel some very unusual types through. At least enough to drive plots and keep me writing books for years to come. Some of it, by the way, is just too hot to publish. This one was right on the line though, and it is such a great story. So, I did my journalistic best to nail it down for you.

At first, he was really reluctant to do any kind of interview. I went with the ‘former military guy pitch.’ I have zero reason to endanger his operation and in fact as a military man, I understood immediately what the bikes could be used for. Besides, I think it’s really cool.

“No deal.”

He was never in the military and didn’t even really have an affinity for the military profession. Just a respect for the fact that there was now a huge war in Ukraine and as a dudes dude, he wanted to be involved. This guy was switched on and ready to go, a real action kind of guy.

Motocross, as we’ll call him, spoke with a heavy Northern European accented English. It carried a jocular attitude to it. He has been on the racing circuit a while, and it shows. He spoke English colored with biker terms and lingo. Looking like a character from the TV show Vikings. Blonde, but trimmed beard, blue eyes and a swagger to his walk. I got the image that on the racetrack there were girls, a lot of girls, that hung around just to watch him and his buddies perform daredevil stunts and jumps.

I switched to the motorcycle rider brotherhood thing. If you don’t ride, you might not know what I’m talking about, but almost as tight as the bonds that hold military guys together long after combat is over, there is also a big respect factor among fellow biker enthusiasts. I showed him pics of my own motorcycle, a Yamaha Royal Star and asked him about his Suzuki SV650V.

“Ya, it’s not my favorite ride. My brother has a shop and I ride the used bikes that come in.”

Most dirt- and street-bikers look down at cruiser-drivers, but pix of my tricked-out pig back at home seemed sufficient to loosen him up some more. He was, afterall, talking to another iron jockey. Maybe not a racer, but aging Harley and cruiser guys still get some respect as ‘old school cool’ with the younger motorcycle set. I asked more questions about his gear and what he was up to.

“Okay, you understand that this is kinda not above board, man. We’re not exactly working through, um, channels or, like import, export licenses or even tariffs.” said Motocross. At least now I was getting somewhere. “But as a motorcycle guy, you get that this is a needed thing in combat, right?” he said.
“Totally do. No problem. Let me talk to you for a bit and take some pictures. I can cut everything out that IDs you until you tell me it’s okay.” I said.

Motocross was understandably still reluctant, glancing at my yellow press patch a bunch of times. This was the first time, before I ran into Sean Penn three times in Warsaw, that I wished I’d ripped the thing off before I had approached someone to conduct an interview. Of course a motorcycle smuggler doesn’t want to be ID’d or even be on the record. Maybe a different approach.
“Okay, how about this, you take the pictures and send them to me when you’ve finished your next run. I won’t put anything online till then.” I said.

“Deal!”

Awesome!

Me: “How did you come up with this idea?”
Motocross: “Hey bro, I was watching the war when it started, and I have a lot of friends in Ukraine. I thought maybe I needed to enlist and go help out. Then I decided, better idea, I ride and my brother owns a dirt bike repair and upgrade shop. I’m going to see if I can get some cash, buy a bunch of dirt bikes and give them to the Ukrainian army. Better use of my time and resources and instead of just another gun-toter, they get something better.” His truck was parked nearby, completely marked and obvious. Racing logo and sponsorships painted all over the outside. He was and is hiding in plain sight.

Me: “So how’s it work?”
Motocross: “We buy dirt bikes, a lot of them. We take off all the faring and change them over. We work on them so they’re running in top order.”

Me: “How many times have you been over?”
Motocross: “I’ve personally taken four sets of bikes over and handed them off to Ukrainian forces fighting in Kyiv and the surrounding area. We just got back taking the last load over to Mariupol area. They put them to use immediately.” [shows me photo below]

Me: “How many bikes are you taking at a time?”
Motocross: “Varies with what we’re able to assemble. Obviously they want camouflaged bikes, so it takes some time to convert them. We do a lot of other mods to the bikes too. We give it jacked up carbs, buffed tires, pretty much trick them out for war.”
Me: “How well are they received with the combat organizations.”
Motocross: “Amazing. Amazing. They put them straight to use. They don’t even really hold on to them until they can find riders. Now they’re ready for us and no sooner have we offloaded them and they ride them off into combat. It’s pretty exhilarating to see them put to immediate use. Makes us all feel like were contributing something to fight asshole Putin and his fucked up war in a very unique way that not many others could do.”

So cool. There’s a lot of bad stuff happening in this war, and you have to really look, but if you do, there are tons of people pitching in in ways you could never have imagined.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: At the time I wrote this, the guys wanted total anonymity. After some online discussions, I think they are warming up to being somewhat public. They get that this is a cool endeavor and don’t mind the status of actually pulling it off. One of them has started to post some pictures on FaceBook. I’ll link those up when he says it’s Okay. In the meanwhile, I don’t want to break his operation or get him fined or arrested for doing something I think is not just terrific for the Ukrainian war effort, but is extremely cool.

The post WZD#20 – War Motorcycle Smuggler Studs appeared first on Rip Rawlings.

War Zone Diaries #21 – Two Brave Ladies from Kharkiv

Olga and Małgorzata, two good friends for ages, were as shocked as the rest of the world by Russia’s brutal attack. They have a beautiful home in Kharkiv, near the city center. According to Małgorzata, Kharkiv was a peaceful city of close to 2 million, but never had that big city feel. More like a modest sized town where you were just as likely to run into friends at the market as to see a buddy in the park and certainly at church on Sunday. Małgorzata runs a successful roofing business and expected to continue in management for many years. Then the Russian bombs began to fall. Now she has fifty people–relatives, neighbors and friends–sheltering in her house.

         When the invasion began, neither woman could believe what was happening. Most of the town had not stocked up on supplies. Just like Olga and Małgorzata, they believed invasion was not possible – that it just couldn’t happen. If you’ve been tracking the battle of Kharkiv, you know it is suffering attacks equal to that of Kyiv and without the same number of fighting forces to defend it. After the initial shock wore off, they decided they could not just stand by and watch. They made a decision: find the causes dearest to their hearts and jump to action.

         Using roofing trucks from their now defunct business, they made two immediate runs to Poland and back to bring supplies: food, diapers, and two generators. Their first mission, support and supply a local shelter for homeless mothers housing forty women with their babies. When the attack began, the homeless mothers were personally invited (by the wife of the President of Poland) to relocate into Poland for safety. But these girls are impoverished, mostly late teen mothers who’d lived on the streets. They simply didn’t have the means.  But now, with the aid of the Bishop of Kharkiv, two nuns and Olga, Małgorzata and their team, they have relocated the women and their babies into the monastery located in the relative safety of the western part of Ukraine.

         The women have completed more than five supply runs, all of great help, but now the war has escalated. Both the tasks and the needs have become daunting. When I asked them when they’ll be finished, they said they won’t stop until the war is over or they are killed. Even with the Russian’s pounding all the city’s infrastructure to rubble – the sheer scale of the Russian bombing would repeatedly take out the power grid. Oddly, this gave Olga and Małgorzata reasons for hope. After each bombing, technicians, service personnel, the mailmen, even the garbage collectors went back to work. Obviously with severely limited capacities and under extreme duress, but it shows the determination of the people of the city of Kharkiv.

Małgorzata tells the story of her son and his girlfriend. They were in their basement during a rocket attack, and they told everyone that the building didn’t just shake. The whole building “jumped.” Many people who have experienced the battles in cities like Kharkiv and Kyiv where Russian artillery is pounding the city day and night have explained the phenomenon the same way. The feeling that the whole building lifts up off its foundation and jumps up in the air. In the case of her son, the power went out, but early on the next day, technicians came out to repair the lines. 

But as much as there are survivors, there are also deep tragedies. Famine and death are a constant. Kharkiv is literally on the end of the line, well past Kyiv; much of the nation’s supply chain is simply not making it out that far. The war is not just dangerous for those on two legs, either. The new Kharkiv zoo where local schools once took children to learn about animals also became a battleground. Shelling has killed many animals, and quite a few have also escaped–lions, deer and an elephant. The zookeepers who went to feed and care for the animals were shot by the Russians. Now that the zookeepers can no longer approach, the animals are either slaughtered or run free. Many are wounded and will suffer until they reach their ultimate demise at the hands of artillery or the daily gun battles.

Are there any hopeful stories? Yes, many. Humanity will persevere, as both Olga and Małgorzata bear testimony to. The local Ukrainian soldiers who ring the city of Kharkiv in a defensive perimeter are sending videos of encouragement to its citizens telling them to “stay strong.” The soldiers crack jokes about Putin and give motivational speeches to raise the city’s spirits. Improbably, there is another kind of hope too. The city of Kharkiv was largely Russian. It is a very near neighbor to Russia and, because of its history, it has always been a close friend and seen Russians as brothers. Now… now, the entire city has turned utterly against Russia. As the ladies describe, everyone is now galvanized as simply “Ukrainian.”

Amid all this chaos, these two women also persevere and have no doubt, after speaking to them, I don’t believe they will ever quit until victory is achieved or the city lies in ruins. And even then, watch the videos and you’ll assume as I did, that they will be with the last residents, picking through the rubble and lending a hand to their brothers and sisters of Kharkiv.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: Olga and Małgorzata are using their own money. Gas, vehicle maintenance, paying their drivers, and of course buying load after load of supplies for the homeless mothers and the starving city of Kharkiv. If you’d like to help them send another load of food and supplies, here is their PayPal: Khmela@Hotmail.com with a note “Roofer’s Help Ukraine”

The post WZD#21 – Two Brave Ladies from Kharkiv appeared first on Rip Rawlings.

Hey,
If you’ve followed me on Twitter, Insta, Face Book, etc, you know I am all about larger, global organizations that support all things Ukraine. I have a list of several of these, but also, directly below, I have listed some more local organizations. I rarely feel that my money will go to the people on the ground, but I have made a short list of several very real organizations who are doing AMAZING work on a minute-by-minute basis.

So here are a few ways you can help, PLEASE don’t just stop at the top, scroll down a piece, you will find all of them are doing God’s work and performing everyday miracles.

1). Help the doggies. No, really, you can help dogs displaced by war.
Their PayPal:  igorbikejoring@gmail.com
Igor Tracz, the famous Polish mountain biker, has created a team of volunteers to rescue dogs and people (kind of in that order) from Ukraine. There are a lot of organizations rescuing people. I’ve come across none that have made room for dogs. Or any other pets for that matter. Igor and Andrzej, however, have done just that.

2). Two Ladies from Kharkiv:
Olga & Małgorzata are two ladies who work for a Ukrainian roofing company.
Here is their PayPal: Khmela@Hotmail.com with a note “Roofer’s Help Ukraine”
They company got shelled, but they saved the trucks. Now they drive every day to take supplies to refugees, citizens and 40 (yes, 40!) single, teen mothers and their babies hiding in a shelter in a monastery. WOW! What courage.

The post WZD#19 – Where Can I Contribute? appeared first on Rip Rawlings.

War Zone Diaries#8 – Russian Nukes & Chem

BLUF: I don’t believe Russia will use strategic nuclear arms. Tactical nukes and chem may be a different matter. Read on for additional analysis.

I did a very in-depth discussion with the guys over at Crew Reviews. They were nice enough to let me ramble on about all manner of things Ukraine including the topic of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Below is my written version, and expansion on the topic. What makes me qualified to answer this question? I was the Nuclear Arms Officer for the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pentagon. Are there more qualified people than me to answer this question? Most certainly. That said, however, I am decent at writing and communicating tactics and strategy to civilians, so what follows is an 8-minute experience that’s free to you and breaks things down in laymen’s terms more than your average PhD nuclear physicist’s have done on the interwebs.

Right off the top, this is a very morbid topic. The conversation deals with the possible deaths of millions of people if the conflict spreads in Ukraine and even beyond. So, like many of my diary reports, tune out if you need a break from war. Though, there is some good news here too.

I don’t believe Putin is dumb enough to use strategic nuclear weapons unless Russia, meaning the actual Rodina (Motherland) is directly threatened. However, there are some fundamental problems to this argument. Russia has it’s back against a wall: Russia’s economy is in a free fall and will take years to recover; Russia is not losing the war, but they are not winning either; Putin will not allow Russia to lose this war. So, you know what they say about a cornered rat. But mostly, and this is what I will focus on, Russia views tactical nuclear weapons very differently from the United States and the West.

The U.S. and Russia have made immense progress in the elimination of strategic nuclear arms. At it’s peak, Russia had 39,197 strategic nuclear devices. This includes bombs, submarine and ground-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), and cruise missiles. The United States had 31,149 and included the same variety.* Strategic arms reductions talks and treaties, SALT I, SALT II, START and New START (of which I had a minor role), were all aimed at reductions in stockpiles, and for the most part succeeded. The U.S. has reduced it’s stockpile to 5,800 and Russia reduced to 6,375 with even more reductions on their way. It’s important to note that even this level of nuclear weaponization can destroy hundreds of millions of lives on first impacts and eventually will result in the deaths of billions through fallout and contamination.

This brings us to the war in Ukraine and the problem with Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles. The largest issue is that Russia and America’s perspectives on these weapons differ drastically. Russia has had, and continues to store, tactical nuclear weapons. These are weapons that are as small as an artillery shell and as large as a bomb that can be carried by a joint role fighter (50-100lbs). What’s the difference, you may ask. The difference is that the West has never really asked Russia to account for this stockpile. Instead ceding the point that if Russia felt a direct threat to the Rodina, they might defend themselves not with a full strike against the U.S. and Western capitols, but against the fighting and field forces of their opponent’s armies. The munitions themselves are considered “theater level weapons,” and generally speaking, cannot be projected outside a military theater. This means that the missile/bomb/torpedo/depth-charge/artillery shell itself is incapable of crossing an ocean, but is fully capable of firing from Belarus into Ukraine for example.

There’s a second issue with this perspective. Russia sees these “theater level” or “tactical level” nuclear weapons as just a very big bomb. They have never fully acknowledged the effects of fallout or nuclear contamination. Certainly not the long term effects on an ecosystem, food, plants, water, animals or even really humans. It is, to use Orwellian terms, very much Duckspeak or Doublespeak. That is to say, the science concerning the effects of radiation are well known in Russia, but the use of terms to describe the effects of tactical munitions have been intentionally obscured in their manuals and training so officers in the military that might be called upon to use the weapons are left in the dark, or better defined, cajoled into believing that the effects are as limited as say, the blast radius of the weapon itself. You would have to go out of your way as an officer in their nuclear artillery military occupational field to understand the true effects of a tactical nuclear weapon.

Putin himself was the part-author to a type of limited nuclear weapons use he called “Escalate to de-escalate.” This term is as terrifying as it sounds, and though it fits well into the Russian propensity to posture greatly with policy but not necessarily follow through with use, it is still a very real part of the Russian military’s orthodoxy. The core of the concept from then-secretary of Security Council of Russia, Putin, “using both tactical and strategic nuclear threats and strikes to de-escalate or cause an enemy to disengage from a conventional conflict threatening what Russia considers a strategic interest.”** Yes, this very much means what it says: use a nuclear weapon to win, and thereby scare it’s opponents so heavily from using their own weapons or continuing the conflict that they will sue for peace.

Yeah, it’s insane.

So what’s the result? The result is that Russia still has a stockpile of chemical munitions and most concerning still has an ardent perspective on the use of small nuclear devices – if till now only to convince the world that it takes threats to its existence to the max. The result of which is that there is a slim, but unlikely chance that Russia will use small nuclear weapons if and when it feels that the scales of the war are tipping out of their favor.

Should we be concerned? Yes. Simply, yes. As early as today, Russia has experienced losses in and around Kyiv. The cities of Irpin, Lisne, Motyzhyn, Kapytanivka and Dmytrivka have been liberated and are now under control of Ukrainian forces. I have spoken and interviewed fighters who have been in combat there (I’ll link the article later, but you can see some of their stories on my Twitter) and I will say there is not a lot left of those towns and hamlets. However, this is war, and those are very real reversals, and Russia, although not losing, certainly is not winning.

What will happen? I don’t know. But I know Putin is the worst Hitler since Hitler, is a megalomaniac and is a very unstable dictator. The threat of nuclear weapons and fallout to Ukraine and Eastern Europe is very real. The West needs to continue to support Ukraine in their fight for existence, but also be forewarned that a failure to stop Russia can lead to much larger consequences.

*https://www.sipri.org/media/press-rel...

**https://thebulletin.org/2014/03/why-r...

The post WZD#8 – Russian Nukes & Chem appeared first on Rip Rawlings.

War Zone Diary#23 – Russian POWs being shot/abused

Good morning US of A.

There are two items of interest in today’s news.
1). #Warcrime video.
2). #Oscars video.

Neither is very savory, but both are newsworthy… at least one is in my estimation. First, I forgot the Oscar’s were last night, and while I am always interested in entertainment, I have never followed entertainment news.

So on to #2. I’ll offer some quick analysis. This is the first video evidence of Ukrainian war crimes. This is a legitimate video (i.e. not faked) and it depicts Ukrainian troops, likely Territorial Defense men, intentionally injuring Russian Prisoner’s of War (POWs) post-capture. It is a war crime and it is heinous.

FILE PHOTO: Militants of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic take part in shooting drills at a range on the outskirts of Donetsk, Ukraine, December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo.

The video is available on the internet, I do not propagate pictures of POWs as it is against the Geneva Convention, so I’ll just say Google it if you feel compelled to see it. The video portrays a very real aspect of war, and especially this war. And is an expected failure given the duration and intensity of the conflict. I very much doubt it will be the last time we see this. Although, given the Ukrainian philosophy on public relations, I expect we will see public and swift justice. Covering things like this up are never possible in free countries with open media, like Ukraine is, and even dictatorships like Russia are not able to contain things like this for very long. What can I say, the truth eventually always surfaces.

Let’s get in to it a little more, because things on the surface are rarely as they seem. I’ll offer this up first, I have no greater information than that which has already been posted on the internet and Twitter, my analysis is my own, and I don’t mind offering an opinion and also daring to be wrong. In fact, I very much hope that I am wrong in a lot of the following supposition.

The images are undeniably from the war in Ukraine. Some web-forensicates (made that up btw) are already validating the location (looks like it’s in between two factories in Kharkiv). There is an extended version which shows the POWs (ID’d by their uniforms and the bindings holding their arms behind their backs) which depicts them shortly after being offloaded from a truck. The sounds of near-distant artillery fire add to the immediacy of the soldiers predicament. This is directly following action and likely the prisoners were not that far removed from their capture point, escorted there by the men who had just fought them (my supposition). A soldier enters from the left and shoots first one, then a second in the leg. The video then goes to a number of POWs, including the first two. All appear to have been abused (swollen lip, cuts, abrasions and, of course, GSWs to the leg). They have covers on their faces, which are lifted, then they are interviewed. I don’t speak Russian, but the translations provided by Twitter personalities say they are asked their names and hometowns and some other information. One part of the video shows a man shot in the upper thigh and clearly has a femoral artery bleed. He will die within fifteen to thirty minutes after the video shuts off.

Some observations: There is no time or date associated with the video; the location is unclear; the units of the soldiers is unclear.

Some analysis: There are several “war crimes” depicted, and not just the shooting of unarmed prisoners.
-First, it is against the Geneva Convention to parade/showcase/depict POWs in any form post capture except in closed correspondence between warring states to validate proof of life.
-Second, troops may be blindfolded at point of capture, but after they are taken to an internment facility (even temporary), they should not remain so. This is not contradictory to the Geneva Convention, but is against practices outlined in the law of land warfare for the fair and humane treatment of prisoners.
-Third, abuse of prisoners. One could claim, and the troops depicted in the film most certainly will say so at their trials, that the Russian troops sustained their bruises, cuts, etc… before the points of capture. I doubt that. The wounds are consistent with post-capture abuse. Those are mostly facial wounds and indeed we see (slightly out of frame) a Russian POW being kicked after being shot. So abuse is happening.
-Fourth, and biggest, shooting of POWs. Not only against the Geneva Convention, but also the Law of Land Warfare and all that protects the basic humanity during otherwise insane conflicts.

Some conclusions: This was expected and has already been happing to varying degrees across the battlefield. This is a product of the now protracted nature of the conflict. This is a direct result of the frustrations of the soldiers fighting an in-your-face conflict while defending their very homes against naked Russian aggression. I have sensed this kind of anger, and determination to ‘hurt the guys doing it’ in my own experiences in war, and can say it is real, it is human, and it happens; unless troops are well led, disciplined and morale remains… let’s just say remains above shit. This is all the job of professional officers and senior enlisted men, and in my experience with the Ukraine Territorial Guard, these items are lacking. I spoke with a man who had trucked 200-bodies of dead Ukrainian boys back to their home town. His AK and Glock were loaded and he said-shouted actually, “I will never again take Russian prisoner’s of war.” The implication was that he will shoot them, even if they surrendered. I believed him. He was off his rocker in pain and anguish and would have shot me or several of my compatriots on the spot if we said something that went contrary to his momentary world view. He is one man, he represents thousands of war-weary, angry others who have seen the abject violence of war in a manner a very large percentage of those on Twitter or FaceBook have no understanding or reference to comprehend. For those of you that believed Ukraine would remain above blame and not commit illegal acts are following too closely with the PR mechanisms of Ukraine.

Don’t get me wrong, I have zero love for a Russian led war of aggression that has been exceedingly lopsided in it’s effects against innocents and I have interviewed and witnessed ALL of it up close and personally. But this happened and I do believe the best way for Ukraine to cleanse it in the light of day. Nothing less than a full public inquiry and a military tribunal/trial. Anything less and the world will begin to turn its collective backs on President Zelensky and the plight of Ukraine will be less important to the world and they will suffer more. My message to President Zelensky and his senior military leadership: just do the right thing and the world will continue to be overwhelmed by your fighting prowess and guts in the face of a terrible invasion. We care, and you need to clean this up. Quickly.

Has Russia committed war crimes; MOST CERTAINLY. They are being catalogued by date, time, location and incident very VERY carefully by the Ukrainian government and by outside, and interested observers. They will persist and must be prosecuted at the termination of hostilities. Those war crimes make this incident pale in comparison. To put things further into context, demolishing city blocks with indiscriminate artillery and massive 2,000# bombs is a war crime. Indiscriminate use of force is a war crime. Use of white phosphorous against civilian targets is illegal and is a war crime. Demolishing non-legitimate targets, i.e. schools, hospitals, zoos, civilian houses, etc, etc… are all war crimes. If you target civilian use infrastructure you MUST demonstrate that you have/had full knowledge of its use for military purposes and document it clearly and carefully for later examination. If you do so unintentionally, ie. your bomb misses it’s intended target and hits a non-military target you address it immediately and completely and call for a full investigation. When you do it intentionally, as the Russians have, you have very plainly committed a war crime.

Why do we do these things? Why not just fight and kick each other’s asses and forgive the men in the midst of the fighting when they lose their tempers? It is certainly understandable. You don’t need a degree from the USMC War College to understand. But no, if you fight in this way you loose ALL respect from the international community and you suffer even further from the international disdain. Additionally, and possibly even more compelling for those men that perpetrated this crime, the response from your enemy is instantaneous and lasting. The Russian units in the area will now show no quarter (if they even have is still in debate). You’ve now given them an excuse to up the ante in terms of abuse and cowardly acts of revenge. It will spread out from there quickly, and soon all Russian forces will be aware. They will now fight with renewed vigor because they know what will happen if they are captured. No humane treatment, no chance to call home, no chance of respite and very likely no survival. Nothing to lose attitudes are brutal on the battlefield. I felt this way when fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It makes the war very personal. I knew as a Field Grade Officer I would be beheaded after being forced to make a video turning on my nation, my troops, the mission and my families. So, I fought with a tenacity like no other. If I got my men into a jamb they would not be spared, none of use would and we came to expect that getting lost, disoriented or captured was certain and bloody death. I am still aware of, and remember echoes of that feeling. Every operation was total and suicidal. If we failed, we all died. The Russian machine, arguably on the brink, certainly with seams showing and quite a few surrenders and captures already (with fair treatment videotaped), will now fight with no mercy. You want surrenders, it shows the enemy has a weak will. They will have far fewer now.

This act has strategic implications, as it has in almost every previous war in history.

These are my thoughts, and this is my analysis.

I’ll add one other point: could this be a Russian fake? Yes, it is distinctly possible. Russia is well aware of their own PR shortcomings and tricking, faking, creating opportunities to display Ukrainian troops in demoralizing or illegal acts is exactly something Russia would and already have attempted. But I don’t believe this is faked. The blood and wounds are real as is the crime.

The post WZD#23 – Russian POWs being shot appeared first on Rip Rawlings.

War Zone Diary #23 – Russian POWs being shot/abused

Good morning US of A.,

There are two items of interest in today’s news.
1). #Warcrime video.
2). #Oscars video.

Neither is very savory, but both are newsworthy… at least one is in my estimation. First, I forgot the Oscar’s were last night, and while I am always interested in entertainment, I have never followed entertainment news.

So on to #2. I’ll offer some quick analysis. This is the first video evidence of Ukrainian war crimes. This is a legitimate video (i.e. not faked) and it depicts Ukrainian troops, likely Territorial Defense men, intentionally injuring Russian Prisoner’s of War (POWs) post-capture. It is a war crime and it is heinous.

FILE PHOTO: Militants of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic take part in shooting drills at a range on the outskirts of Donetsk, Ukraine, December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

The video is available on the internet, I do not propagate pictures of POWs as it is against the Geneva Convention, so I’ll just say Google it if you feel compelled to see it. The video portrays a very real aspect of war, and especially this war. And is an expected failure given the duration and intensity of the conflict. I very much doubt it will be the last time we see this, although, given the Ukrainian philosophy on public relations, I expect we will see public and swift justice. Covering things like this up are never possible in free countries with open media, and even dictatorships like Russia are not able to contain things like this for very long. What can I say, the truth eventually always surfaces.

Let’s get in to it a little more, because things on the surface are rarely as they seem. I’ll offer this up first, I have no greater information than that which has already been posted on the internet and Twitter, my analysis is my own, and I don’t mind offering an opinion and also daring to be wrong. In fact, I very much hope that I am wrong in a lot of the following supposition.

The images are undeniably from the war in Ukraine. Some web-forensicates (made that up btw) are already validating the location (looks like it’s in between two factories in Kharkiv). There is an extended version which shows the POWs (ID’d by their uniforms and the bindings holding their arms behind their backs) which depicts them shortly after being offloaded from a truck. A soldier enters from the left and shoots first one, then a second in the leg. The video then goes to a number of POWs, including the first two. All appear to have been abused (swollen lip, cuts, abrasions and, of course, GSWs to the leg). They have covers on their faces, which are lifted, then they are interviewed. I don’t speak Russian, but the translations provided by Twitter personalities say they are asked their names and hometowns and some other information. One part of the video shows a man shot in the upper thigh and clearly has a femoral artery bleed. He will die within fifteen to thirty minutes after the video shuts off.

Some observations: There is no time or date associated with the video; the location is unclear; the units of the soldiers is unclear.

Some analysis: There are several “war crimes” depicted, and not just the shooting of unarmed prisoners.
-First, it is against the Geneva Convention to parade/showcase/depict POWs in any form post capture except in closed correspondence between warring states to validate proof of life.
-Second, troops may be blindfolded at point of capture, but after they are taken to an internment facility (even temporary), they should not remain so. This is not contradictory to the Geneva Convention, but is against practices outlined in the law of land warfare for the fair and humane treatment of prisoners.
-Third, abuse of prisoners. One could claim, and the troops depicted in the film most certainly will say so at their trials, that the Russian troops sustained their bruises, cuts, etc… before the points of capture. I doubt that. The wounds are consistent with post-capture abuse. Those are mostly facial wounds and indeed we see (slightly out of frame) a Russian POW being kicked after being shot. So abuse is happening.
-Fourth, and biggest, shooting of POWs. Not only against the Geneva Convention, but also the Law of Land Warfare and all that protects the basic humanity during otherwise insane conflicts.

Some conclusions: This was expected and has already been happing to varying degrees across the battlefield. This is a product of the now protracted nature of the conflict. This is a direct result of the frustrations of the soldiers fighting an in-your-face conflict while defending their very homes against naked Russian aggression. I have sensed this kind of anger, and determination to ‘hurt the guys doing it’ in my own experiences in war, and can say it is real, it is human, and it happens; unless troops are well led, disciplined and morale remains… let’s just say remains above shit. This is all the job of professional officers and senior enlisted men, and in my experience with the Ukraine Territorial Guard, these items are lacking. I spoke with a man who had trucked 200-bodies of dead Ukrainian boys back to his home town. His AK and Glock were loaded and he said, “I will never again take Russian prisoner’s of war.” The implication was that he will shoot them, even if they surrendered. I believed him. He was off his rocker in pain and anguish and would have shot me or several of my compatriots on the spot if we said something that went contrary to his momentary world view. He is one man, he represents thousands of angry others who have seen the war in a manner a very large percentage of those on Twitter or FaceBook have no understanding or reference to comprehend. For those of you that believed Ukraine would remain above blame and not commit illegal acts are following too closely with the PR mechanisms of Ukraine.

Don’t get me wrong, I have zero love for a Russian led war of aggression that has been exceedingly lopsided in it’s effects against innocents and I have interviewed and witnessed ALL of it up close and personally. But I do believe the best way for Ukraine to cleanse it in the light of day. Nothing less than a full public inquiry and a military tribunal/trial. Anything less and the world will begin to turn its collective backs on President Zelensky and the plight of Ukraine will be less important to the world and they will suffer more. My message to President Zelensky and his senior military leadership: just do the right thing and the world will continue to be overwhelmed by your fighting prowess and guts in the face of a terrible invasion. We care, and you need to clean this up. Quickly.

Has Russia committed war crimes; MOST CERTAINLY. They are being catalogued by date, time, location and incident very VERY carefully by the Ukrainian government and by outside, and interested observers. They will persist and must be prosecuted at the termination of hostilities. Those war crimes make this incident pale in comparison. To put things further into context, demolishing city blocks with indiscriminate artillery and massive 2,000# bombs is a war crime. Indiscriminate use of force is a war crime. Use of white phosphorous against civilian targets is illegal and is a war crime. Demolishing non-legitimate targets, i.e. schools, hospitals, zoos, civilian houses, etc, etc… are all war crimes. If you target civilian use infrastructure you MUST demonstrate that you have/had full knowledge of its use for military purposes and document it clearly and carefully for later examination. If you do so unintentionally, ie. your bomb misses it’s intended target and hits a non-military target you address it immediately and completely and call for a full investigation. When you do it intentionally, as the Russians have, you have very plainly committed a war crime.

Why do we do these things? Why not just fight and kick each other’s asses and forgive the men in the midst of the fighting when they lose their tempers. It is certainly understandable. You don’t need a degree from the USMC War College to understand. But no, if you fight in this way you loose ALL respect from the international community and you suffer even further from the international disdain. Additionally, and possibly even more compelling for those men that perpetrated this crime. The response from your opposite is instantaneous and lasting. The Russian units in the area will now show no quarter. You’ve given them an excuse to up the ante in terms of abuse and cowardly acts of revenge. It will spread out from there, and soon, all Russian forces will be aware. They will also fight you harder because they know what will happen if they are captured. No humane treatment, no chance to call home, no chance of respite and very likely no survival. I felt this when fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It makes the war very personal. I knew as a Field Grade Officer I would be beheaded after being forced to make a video turning on my nation, my troops, the mission and my families. I fought with a tenacity like no other. I would not be spared if I got my men into a jamb, and they would not either. I can still feel echoes of that feeling. Every operation was total and suicidal. If we failed, we all died.

These are my thoughts, and this is my analysis.

I’ll add one other point; could this be a Russian fake? Yes, it is distinctly possible. Russia is well aware of their own PR shortcomings and tricking, faking, creating opportunities to display Ukrainian troops in demoralizing or illegal acts is exactly something Russia would and already have attempted. But I don’t believe this is faked. The blood and wound are real.

The post WZD #23 – Russian POWs being shot appeared first on Rip Rawlings.