Thread by @sambendett

1/ QUICK TAKE: A Russian TG commentary on how historical and personal interpretation of WW2 is affecting Russians society's and its military leadership's views on Ukraine combat. Main points translated below: t.me/russ_orientali…

2/ "Many problems of a military and political nature are directly related to the cult of the Great Patriotic War (WW2). About 20s ago... I would not have said this, but now, from the height of my current experience, it is obvious."

3/ "The long-standing, almost religious, cult of (WW2) Victory is fixed in the consciousness of the broad masses of Russian people, and even the authorities - this image of war with mass casualties, destruction and abstract, poorly explained, ideological motives."

4/ "In every song, film, poem and slogan from childhood, we heard the slogans "we will not stand for the price", "at any cost", "everything for the front, everything for victory", "not a step back" and the famous "we can do it again" reflecting the myth of invincibility."

5/ "These slogans reflected the reality of that war - threatening mass destruction and population replacement and the liquidation of statehood. And the waste of millions of lives could be rationally explained. The enemy was advancing..."

6/ "...was near Moscow, it was necessary to stop him at any cost. Back then, women, as is well known, gave birth, and people could be treated as an inexpensive resource in case of great need. But now this is a problem. No people, millions of soldiers are not birthed."

7/ "And (today) the threat of liquidation of statehood and population replacement is not accompanied by the invasion of tank columns. The (current MOD) disregard for the lives of soldiers and civilians in the 21st century has no rational explanation."

8/ "Moreover, the (Soviet) films we watched since childhood about infantrymen dying in the trenches with a rifle in hand left ineradicable images of what a "real war" should look like: gritting our teeth, holding our position while the enemy plows it with artillery fire, and then..."

9/ "...if we survive, we throw ourselves under the enemy tank with a grenade. Right?? Is this what a "real war" looks like? The kind that people are supposed to be proud of. And you won't have any questions about how the enemy managed to..."

10/ "...concentrate so much artillery, why they are sitting in a crowd in one trench, and where are their anti-tank weapons? These are questions that we should have today - but we don't. "It's always like this in war", we remember it from childhood. And not these rides in mobile groups for the sake of photos on Telegram."

11/ "The problem is that both the Russian officer and the general today have also watched these films since childhood. And they were just waiting for an opportunity to prove themselves, like the hero of a film about Generals Zhukov or Rokossovsky."

12/ "And this general does not understand what claims can be made against him, if the war looks exactly like he memorized, and has always looked exactly like this. Well, they did not evacuate civilians during the retreat, but this is a war with "fascism", and what did you expect?"

13/ "The conscripts were surrounded - well, this is the enemy who came to our holy land, during the Great Patriotic War, schoolchildren went as volunteers, and these conscripts today are also paid money under the contract. Artillerymen were transferred to assault units and wiped out in a week? Well, all for the sake of victory."

14/ "In such an atmosphere, it is very difficult to carry out military reforms and even comprehend the change in military thought. The very rational discussion of military expediency is already heresy! What is the point..."

15/ "...of taking a regional center, losing more people in the assault than there were residents in that regional center? Such a question cannot be asked, it discredits the symbols of faith. The land under dead cities is priceless. Everyone must die for it."

16/ "That's how it was in the war movies. And then it turns out that in this new, modern war, everything works differently. If you fight for every piece of land, then the army quickly wears out, and the women do not give birth to new soldiers. It turns out..."

17/ "...that the enemy will spit on you and go around you to another location. That if you gather forces for a decisive throw, missiles will fly there. And while you produce everything for the front, everything for victory, you fall into technological and financial dependence on geopolitical players."

18/ This is one opinion on TG - there are many Russian officers who went through different military rotations, including in Syria, and who do not want to waste soldiers, like Gen. Surovikin, who withdrew from parts of Kherson rather than face a strong Ukrainian response.

19/ On balance, the translated opinion above is a civilian view of massive casualties sustained by the Russian military to date, especially massive "meat assaults" of 2023.