Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ Russian soldiers are dealing with the stresses of trench warfare by hiring sex workers to entertain them in their dugouts. Meanwhile, Russian brothels are offering soldiers on leave the opportunity to fulfil their fantasy of "punishing bad Ukrainian [women]". ⬇️

2/ A report by The Insider highlights how the war in Ukraine has changed the nature of sex work in Russia. The country's sex workers are facing many challenges, from the loss of established clients, to increased competition from soldiers' wives and girlfriends taking up sex work.

3/ The Insider reports on the various impacts of the war on Russia's sex workers. Many of their clients fled abroad at the start of the war to escape mobilisation, while hundreds of thousands more were mobilised and in many cases killed in the fighting in Ukraine.

4/ Prostitutes are having to take greater risks, such as taking drunk or drugged clients, and to service poor Central Asian immigrants because they cannot find enough Russian clients. They have had to lower their prices and take on more clients to make up the numbers.

5/ Some Russian brothels are taking advantage of the war by offering discounts to soldiers. One prostitute says that she has seen salons offering a new "format of service: to come and punish bad Ukrainians, i.e. "fuck a Ukrainian woman"."

6/ Perhaps as a result, soldiers have come to expect special treatment. The prostitute says that men "ask for a discount on dating sites or call from adverts: "I fought in the war, I defended my motherland, and you should either give me for free or take less money"."

7/ Sex workers face increased personal danger from returning soldiers, many of whom are likely suffering from post-traumatic stress. As one prostitute puts it: "Those clients who went to war and returned all behave differently.

8/ "If a person was adequate in peacetime, he remains adequate in principle, and if he was an aggressive idiot, he is even worse now.

9/ "There was a case in St. Petersburg when a whole unit of seven or eight people came, they were on leave and made a ruckus, one of them had a grenade and threatened to blow everyone up. Then it turned out that the grenade wasn't real, but the girls didn't know that.

10/ "There are enough fools like that in peacetime, but now it is scary because there are a lot of weapons around."

11/ Some soldiers are "brainwashed", prostitutes say, while other men "say that they have fought and that they have to go back, but they don't want to, because it's a nightmare and hell there, but they don't see any other way out. Such people behave adequately."

12/ In such cases, men are seeking an escape from the traumas of war. "They come to me for distraction. What's the point of him reliving events that he'll be plunged back into again, say, in a few days?

13/ "That is why our whole meeting is essentially devoted to psychological dialogue. We talk a lot, and about very personal, intimate things. Sometimes we remember school loves, first sexual experiences, these are secrets that he would not share with anyone else.

14/ "We don't discuss politics. When a man comes from war, he first of all wants to talk about himself and that first love, that first girl who didn't kiss him then or, on the contrary, made him kiss her. And now he asks: "Make me kiss you." It's always very personal.

15/ "Basically, what's my job? It's to accept the trauma. And he understands, "She doesn't judge me, she understands me, because back then, in my 15 years I was very scared to kiss a girl at the disco. And this woman accepts me as I am."

16/ "But the fact that men want to be understood, and want to find at least for a little while a shelter for their experiences – this is always separate from politics, it is always purely personal, intimate."

17/ One prostitute says that she met a client who enthusiastically volunteered to go to war. "He got Putin's bonus and decided to spend it on prostitutes. This guy gave us everything. Took off his new T-shirt and gave it to me. He was happy and said how lucky he was to have us.

18/ "He drank whiskey all the time and listened to a propaganda song about the war on YouTube: Basta or some of our other pop singers. He said he would go again, that he had to defend his homeland. He was not violent, but brainwashed.

19/ "There's ISIS, who train suicide bombers ready to kill themselves - that's what he was like. Words can't even convey what a shock it is to see a man in such a state. And he's young, and he's not stupid. Why did he go there?

20/ "I think they just don't realise that they have to kill other people. And the women don't realise what their husbands have to do. What does the word "war" mean to them? Their husbands go to war and bring in money, but they don't want to think about what is behind it.

21/ "And many of them are bloodthirsty. He, for example, drinks, and she may be thinking: "He will be killed, thank God. I'll get a bonus and he'll get slapped. He fucked me for two years and now I'm gonna live the good life.""

22/ "I don't know how else to think about it. It's really weird."

23/ The vicinity of Russian mobilisation points and military recruitment offices has become a lucrative venue for prostitutes. Corrupt local police forces have also allowed pimps to open brothels in the vicinity of the camps where mobilised soldiers are being trained.

24/ As one prostitute says of another sex worker in Novosibirsk, "There are a lot of men there, they want to relieve stress, they come out of the military recruitment centre, see Angela with a car and go to her to relieve stress. It's such an attraction.

25/ "For her, the war is a way to find a place where clients congregate. I read in one of the public [social media channels] that one of the shells destined for Ukraine said, "For Angela.""

26/ The widespread availability of smartphones and fast mobile data networks has provided novel opportunities for sex workers and their soldier clients, as a sex worker interviewed by The Insider notes.

27/ "Soldiers order virtual services and self-satisfy themselves in trenches, dugouts and shelters, right at the front. Very many sex workers provide both real and virtual services.

28/ "The price tag is usually much lower: from 500 roubles ($5.50) for 10 minutes, although it can go up to 3000 ($33). Depends on what they order. Therefore, this is more of a part-time job.

29/ "Most girls will not refuse to do virtual sex for extra pay, some show an open face, and some with a closed [masked] face. It can be just a conversation on sexual topics. The man at this time may or may not turn the camera on.

30/ "Many girls ask to turn it on to make sure there is not a bunch of drunken underage [boys] sitting there."

However, front line video sex can sometimes be a frustrating experience.

31/ "An acquaintance told me about such a client: he called directly from the trench, paid 1000 rubles ($11) for 10 minutes, and told her his fantasies. The connection there is constantly interrupted, as soon as he takes off his trousers in the bushes, his battery runs out."

32/ This is likely to present some interesting operational security challenges. It's been widely reported that the Ukrainians have have used mobile phone networks to spy on and target Russian units. For some soldiers, video sex may not have had a happy ending. /end

Source:
theins.ru/confession/263…