It would be prudent for us not to lose track of the reality, lamented by Ryan Morgan at American Military News that the Russia-Ukraine War is a very dirty one with both sides perpetrating atrocities and committing war crimes:
The head of a U.S. private military contractor training and assisting Ukrainian forces said, in a recent podcast interview, that Ukrainian forces have violated conventions on the rules of warfare and he repeatedly alluded to Ukrainian forces abusing and killing surrendering Russian troops.
Andrew Milburn, a retired U.S. Marine colonel who now leads a private military contractor called the Mozart Group, appeared on an episode of the Team House Podcast. Max Blumenthal, an editor at The GrayZone, shared an edited clip of several of Milburn’s comments on the podcast, where he shared his concerns about potential Ukrainian war crimes.
The Russians and Ukrainians are more like one another than either are like the Americans. We’re on the side of the Ukrainians but neither side is really aligned with our interests and we disregard that to our own detriment.
In the heat of battle or shortly after it just isn’t that uncommon for soldiers to abuse or kill someone who just surrendered. Doesnt make it right but it happens and in my opinion doesnt make it a dirty war unless it is happening all the time, especially as part of policy. Killing and abusing citizens makes it a dirty war. Locking up soldiers they capture then torturing them makes it dirty.
Steve