Only God Knows

During the conflict in Afghanistan, the (now former) Soviets reported few casualties. Russian families often received terrible news that their twenty year old formerly robust conscript had succumbed to influenza in a year with no particular flu epidemic, but the forces of the Kremlin rarely had any troops lost in fighting. In fact, thousands more died in combat than the Communists ever acknowledged. Today, the same lies prevail regarding the Ukraine. Putin admits a handful of thousand combat deaths, but mothers across the nation are not able to reach their sons after their conscription. They never will. The Ukrainians are much more candid about their losses, after all, they are defending their country from wanton aggression. Kyiv embraces the families of the heroes and martyrs that Putin, today's incarnation of Hitler, has murdered.