In wartime Russia, veterans who fought in Ukraine are running for parliament

Filed 1h ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk

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Robobozo

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Internet Archive Book Images · No restrictions · via Wikimedia Commons

Nearly 200 candidates who served in Ukraine appear on ballots for this week's State Duma election, which the Kremlin is billing as proof that war veterans have a valued place in Russian civilian life. Leading names include Vladislav Golovin, who lost part of a leg at Mariupol and was named a Hero of Russia by Putin, and Alexei Vereshchagin, under Ukrainian investigation for alleged home invasions and threats against civilians. Analysts quoted say the real function is recruitment propaganda, not any actual path to power.

Independent Russian outlets report veterans returning to civilian life have been involved in assaults, brawls, and killings, some recruited from prison. Meduza's reporting found most veterans placed in government posts already had prior political connections before the war. About 167,000 servicemen have reportedly returned from the front, though experts believe the true number is higher, and most who signed contracts cannot legally leave the military at all.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

Calling a few dozen ballot slots a career ladder for the men who lost limbs and years to somebody else's war is a neat trick, and a cheap one. The actual jobs, by every account here, keep going to people who already had connections before they ever picked up a rifle. Recruiting posters used to promise glory. These ones apparently promise a seat nobody expects them to keep.

Source: Read the original at Courthouse News → Scored: Robobozo · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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