An imaginary day in the life of a Russian Soldier in Ukraine

My day in Ukraine, is different to what I am used to in my barracks in my country.     

I now have to fight not only the military forces of the Ukrainian army, but the civilians who are surrounding us and have taken up arms. Ukrainian civilians have surrounded us, round our armoured carriers. They are all armed with rifles. They are taking us everywhere - into their schools, into their hospitals, even into their cemeteries.

Our invasion began in the eastern Donbas region on 24 February 2022 after forces tried to liberate the Russian speaking citizens, as we crossed the line of control into the non-occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

                                                                     

Our forces are trained to use the 220 mm “Uragon” Rocket which triggers at least seven cluster explosions. But would you believe, Ukrainian civilians are walking down when there are immediate explosions?

“You see everyone is covered with blood. Looking at it, they drove us into a kindergarten, while we were on the motorway bridge at Stoyanka, 20 miles from Kiev on the third day of our attack."

You see according to our “Russian State Service of Extraordinary Situations", our troops pulled out two men and two women alive from the wreckage. But a third victim, a boy of around eight or ten, was found dead inside one of the cars.

We were taught to use our "GRAD" BM21, 220 mm; "SMERCH" 300 mm weaponry. But we don't have a chance to use these hand arms. 

Of course, our aerial bombers have done our work as you have seen on TV.

                                                                            

We are killing small numbers - 10 people died and 35 injured during the heavy bombardment of central Kharkiv. You know the success in any war is the product of two crucial factors - our ability to fight, and the willingness to suffer the costs. You know this war will cost about $20 billion a day?

We know it takes three to four months to produce replacements and ammunition. 

It is a tax on our working people, a drag on our economic growth.
We thought that our men and our weaponry were superior to the enemy.

We expected it would end quickly. But it has already lasted 18 days. Who knows, it may carry on for months.

The military costs of war have been exacerbated by the unprecedented level of international sanctions by a large coalition of countries.

Russian citizens have been targeted. Generous estimates suggest the Russian economy could shrink by 7 percent by next year, instead of the 2 percent growth that was forecast before the invasion. Some others estimate, it could double up to 15%.

The Russian people are calculating if this cost is worth their Eastern border being extended, as most are Russian speakers.

 Victor Cherubim