Many Russians Terrified about What Will Happen when Veterans of War in Ukraine Return Home, ‘Horizontal Russia’ Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Nov. 24 – While some Russians are undoubtedly eagerly awaiting their return of men from the war in Ukraine, others are terrified about what these veterans will do, given that some of these veterans are former criminals and others hardened by the war may create havoc or even kill people when they come back, Alla Leonova says.
    In a 3500-word article, the Novosibirsk journalist for the Horizontal Russia news portal describes the crimes, including murder, returning Russian veterans have already inflicted on that city’s residents and the fears others there have about the future (semnasem.org/articles/2024/11/22/ves-dom-boitsya-chto-on-vernetsya-s-vojny).
    These stories give a face to the statistics the Vyorstka news agency recently released showing that returning Russian veterans have been involved in the murder of almost 500 people at home since the start of Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine (verstka.media/veterany-svo-ubili-i-pokalechili-v-rossii-pochti-500-chelovek).
    Such fears do not mean that these Russians want the war to continue, but they suggest that as the number of veterans returning home does increase, hostility to them as a group is likely to increase, putting the Putin regime’s effort to cast the veterans as the future elite of the country on a collision course with the attitudes of the Russian people.