Born under Putin, died for Putin

[BeyondGeography]

Link to tweet

David Arutyunyan was born in March 2003 in Kyakhta, near Russia’s border with Mongolia. He was conscripted to the army and served in Pskov, the headquarters of the elite paratroopers.

In March 2022 in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, the 18-year-old’s convoy was hit by artillery fire and he died as he pulled a wounded comrade from their armoured vehicle. Arutyunyan was hit by shrapnel as he carried his friend to safety, according to official Russian reports. He staggered on and got the other soldier to shelter but succumbed to his wounds. He was awarded the Order of Courage posthumously.

The youngest Russian soldier to be publicly identified as having been killed in Ukraine, Arutyunyan’s death has come to symbolise President Putin’s faltering invasion and how it is founded on young, poorly trained conscripts. Growing numbers of Russian troops — both soldiers and commanders — are refusing to fight.

…As the war grinds on, the Ukrainians claim that the psychological state of the Russian troops and their level of motivation appears to be deteriorating. In its latest update published today, the armed forces revealed that two platoon commanders were discharged from their positions after refusing to carry out orders. It said the commanders from the 60th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade of the 5th Combined Arms Army of the eastern military district were relieved due to “non-fulfilment of the order to conduct the hostilities”.

More at https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dc7e72e4-b0f4-11ec-8570-b43daaf58ea1?shareToken=8034f952f6d363056c68fe93f055eebe

[Botany]

1. I feel terrible for the families and friends of these young men but as long as they are in Ukraine..

... and actively fighting I want them dead. I hope their families and friends back home in Russia
take their vengeance out on Putin and overthrow the government that has stolen so much from
them including their children.

Russians murdered this family and their pet as they were trying to escape the fighting and were
no threat to the Russians.

[Liberal In Texas]

2. Agreed.

But as I remember from stories at the time that the dog survived in the create.

[Botany]

4. "The dog survived in the create."

Good.

[BeyondGeography]

3. We agree nt

[TomSlick]

5. The striped t-shirt in the photo suggests he was Spetsnaz or an airborne soldier, not a conscript.

It is nevertheless a wasted life but the waste was Putin's.