Veterans of Putin’s War Ever More Frequently Attacked or Even Killed on Their Return Home and They Want New Law to Protect Them

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Sept. 12 – In yet another indication that the veterans of Putin’s war in Ukraine are not viewed as heroes by all Russians, a small but increasing number of them are being attacked or even killed on their return home, Svobodnaya Pressa reports; and other veterans are demanding that laws be adopted to protect them.

            The portal lists cases from across the Russian Federation and says that Russian politicians and Duma deputies are committed to adding to the criminal code language that would increase the punishment of perpetrators if their victims are veterans of the war in Ukraine at the fall session of the Russian parliament (svpressa.ru/society/article/531444/).

            Some of the attacks appear to reflect the belief of many Russians that the veterans have a lot of money and thus can be robbed. Others are likely the product of personal dislike. But some of them appear to be acts of brutality directed at the veterans as a class, an attitude that is exactly the opposite of what the Kremlin wants to see.

            On the one hand, if Russians see veterans attacked, it will be harder to get new volunteers to fight; and on the other, if veterans feel that they will always have the law at their backs, they may be prepared to violate the law for their own purposes, something many Russians have already expressed fears about. 

            Consequently, what might appear to be a marginal problem has the potential to grow into a major one, not just because the number of such crimes is increasing but because of what many Russians will conclude this trend means.