In the fall of 2022, it became clear that the operation to overthrow the junta in Kiev had failed and a long bloody war was ahead – civil and global. The Kremlin was forced to announce a partial mobilization to stabilize the front. There is no reliable information on how many of the boys called up then have survived so far... But there are still some, God bless them! They have been in the trenches for more than four years. Only they know what's going on, and it's awkward to question them... Those men have crossed a line unthinkable for us... But we must listen to them.
Below I am attaching a text by the veteran nicknamed «Amper».
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Four years ago, around this time, late at night, we, another group of mobilized people, came by bus from the assembly point to the military unit, quickly received uniforms, settled in the barracks.
Several people from that trip are still alive and even relatively healthy, we maintain contact with each other.
What were we thinking then? Most likely - about everything at the same time. Are we doing the right thing?... And about what awaits us, and how long it will last, and when will we be able to return to normal?...
Life and death sorted things out.
Was the decision right? Lucky for the people who kept this faith in themselves, who in a difficult moment received support from relatives or friends... The people who over the past years have not been accused of greed, or of betraying the family, who have not been quarreled with for money, children, or for the banal reason that they are not at home... Few were so lucky.
What was ahead of us? Everyone was waiting for their own branch of hell, fear, pain, grief and insult, the dull helplessness in the face of absolute lack of freedom, which you always encounter alone, even if there are people around you who feel the same.
How much longer will this continue? We haven't understood yet. I am convinced that even those of us who have not fought for a long time, because they cannot, know and remember that the end of our path has not yet been reached.
When will we be able to return to normal? Definitely never. What was, cannot be restored. After the past four years, the old life is unattainable. Those who we were are gone. Marriages have been destroyed, years of children's lives have been missed, parents' funerals have been missed, the most important words have not been said to loved ones and friends.
Life in a war like ours is simply a slow death - no matter how much it may sometimes seem otherwise. It all comes down to the question of whether the conflict will end before this potential death becomes a reality. Everyone has their own deadline. But the survivors will not be the same.
And yet, now, after four years, we must answer: was it all in vain? There is no answer - we have not finished the job. Efforts, sacrifices, feelings - these things are not considered in the clash, only the result is important.
And Victory, or at least victory, is still far away.
* * *
No matter what armistice agreements they sign, this war, which began long before 2022, will continue. I hope I am a bad prophet, but I think it will end only when one of the sides prevails categorically, with a defeat that will serve as an illustrative lesson to the other opponents... Or if the rich and their political prostitutes are asked to account for what they have done - It's not normal to make millions from human blood, there has to be some kind of reaction.