Four years on from the invasion by Putin.

The unholy war by the rapacious and murderous Putin started 4 years ago, although it feels much longer. According to BBC Two tonight there is a programme about the consequences of war on ordinary Russian soldiers, families and girlfriends. It’s entitled The Zero Line: Inside Russia’s War. It’s now estimated by respected sources that something like 1,200,000 members of the military have died - either from direct or indirect action. However there is a state policy for those who don’t want to fight or die and that is a policy, known as Zero. In other words if you are in the Russian army and think of not wanting to continue in battle and want to escape the - madness of the meat grinder. The commanding officer will kill you in this Zero sum game system. So there is no way out. A classic - Catch 22. You are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. 

During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) there was known as ‘fracking’ where soldiers would throw an hand grenade at a senior officer or shot themselves in the foot, to be discharged from service. War makes you do crazy things. So unlike in WW2 we had - conscientious objection, where someone - who held deeply moral, religious or philosophical beliefs that killing was wrong - could legally be excused from fighting. They might be allocated to for example to the Ambulance Services, or medical team. This a correct moral reaction, by a civilised society, unlike Putin’s Russia today. What will be the long term effect of this inhumane policy over time on the Russian people? Many hundreds of families are suffering and caught up in this national nightmare.