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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRussian Wives Now Threatening Ride-Share to Go Get Their Men Back From Ukraine
More than 20 wives of Russian draftees are threatening to hitch a ride to the frontline in Ukraine to pull their husbands out of the war, according to a new report.
The women, from the Kursk and Voronezh regions, have traveled to Belgorod to confront the military leadership at the base from where their husbands were sent, the independent outlet Mozhem Obyasnit reports.
Were stopping the cars that go through the [guard] post. Were tearfully asking them to give us cars to pull our guys out of there. We told them one thingif they dont come out and help us, then we, including a pregnant girl, will go to the frontline. If they wont help [our guys], then we will. Were going to get our husbands, theres no other way, one woman was quoted saying from the city of Valuyki.
The wives uprising at the military base is just the latest demonstration of growing outrage from family members of draftees who say the Russian military has knowingly sent the men to die in Ukraine with no equipment, training, or leadership. Its also just the latest evidence of waning domestic support for the war as more and more ordinary Russians feel just a fraction of the fallout that Ukrainians have been suffering for nearly nine months.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-wives-now-threatening-ride-share-to-go-get-their-men-back-from-ukraine
cbabe
(3,651 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,307 posts)Soldiers' wives were key players in the unrest in the villages. From 1914 to 1917, almost 50% of healthy men were sent to war, and many were killed on the front, resulting in many females being head of the household. Oftenwhen government allowances were late and were not sufficient to match the rising costs of goodssoldiers' wives sent masses of appeals to the government, which went largely unanswered. Frustration resulted, and these women were influential in inciting "subsistence riots"also referred to as "hunger riots," "pogroms," or "baba riots." In these riots, citizens seized food and resources from shop owners, who they believed to be charging unfair prices. Upon police intervention, protesters responded with "rakes, sticks, rocks, and fists."[12]
Antiwar demonstrations
In a diplomatic note of 1 May, the minister of foreign affairs, Pavel Milyukov, expressed the Provisional Government's desire to continue the war against the Central Powers "to a victorious conclusion", arousing broad indignation. On 14 May, about 100,000 workers and soldiers of Petrograd, and, after them, the workers and soldiers of other cities, led by the Bolsheviks, demonstrated under banners reading "Down with the war!" and "All power to the soviets!" The mass demonstrations resulted in a crisis for the Provisional Government.[13] 1 July saw more demonstrations, as about 500,000 workers and soldiers in Petrograd demonstrated, again demanding "all power to the soviets," "down with the war," and "down with the ten capitalist ministers." The Provisional Government opened an offensive against the Central Powers on 1 July, which soon collapsed. The news of the offensive's failure intensified the struggle of the workers and the soldiers. A new crisis in the Provisional Government began on 15 July.
According to scholars Rafael Reuveny and Aseem Prakash, the war contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union by undermining the image of the Red Army as invincible, undermining Soviet legitimacy, and by creating new forms of political participation.[citation needed] On the other hand, the costs for the Soviet Union were not overwhelmingly large compared to other commitments.[380] The CIA estimated in 1987 that the costs amounted to about 2.5 percent of the Soviet military spending per year.[381] The decision to withdraw was made based on a number of political factors.[382] The studies about the dissolution of the Soviet Union by historians Stephen Kotkin and Vladislav Zubok identify mainly internal reasons for the collapse and mention the Afghanistan war only in passing.[383][384]
NJCher
(36,079 posts)Their husbands are not cannon fodder: they are loved ones, essential to the emotional well being of their families, and in other ways.
This is so valiant. I admire these women so much. My heart goes out to them.
I would never want to be put in the position of thinking my loved one was just a means to an end for some megalomaniac's quest for power.
republianmushroom
(14,597 posts)maxsolomon
(33,620 posts)Send them off to the Gulag; that will increase enthusiasm.