This original phrase attributed to Chaucer, “each man for himself there is non(e) other” has a sister expression, ubiquitous in Russia, “divide and conquer”. The myriad interviews of the Russian population, post Ukraine invasion and sanctions, suggest that each, and every Russian including those who have left, are islands unto themselves.
The revelation of Ukraine battlefield videos is that the Russian military are unconcerned about casualties as each soldier separates himself in a different direction after an attack to nurse wounds or simply to lie and die. Unlike Western forces who put a premium on care and evacuation of battlefield casualties, as well as an esprit de corps that leaves no man behind, the invaders are an ineffective counterpoint. In this, the Russian soldiers more resemble the jihadis of Syria than a modern military force.
It may well be that the origin of good morale is democracy. A person who feels that they have a real part in determining the appointment of their government will of necessity, vigorously defend their state. In this paradigm, patriotism will not be mere soundbites uttered by the inner circle on state television.
Russia has a long history, especially with Stalin, for citizens to keep quiet and go about their business. In the kleptocratic state that Russia has become, those on the top may have felt that they have befuddled those at the bottom. Nothing could be further from the actual truth. It may even have become a surprise to Putin that his forces were saddled with sub-standard equipment, supplies and leadership, all virtues of corruption.
Like Angola, many Russian officers fled the battlefield, especially when pushed to be close to lines of contact where a few, inevitably died. Invading troops in Ukraine have busied themselves in the earnest business of looting in a mirror of the post Soviet capture of state assets by a few. They may not have a superyacht, but they will have a trophy appliance.
Similar to the Cubans who survived Angola with a prized oscillating fan, there efforts would not be in vain, unless they are lying in a refrigerated train car on the Polish border. Thousands of Cubans returned home from Angola in a similar frigid manner.
They were not the Scythians envisaged by Soviet poet Alexander Blok, however a few Spartans do remain, chief among them are Alexei Navalny, Boris Bondarev and retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok.
The custodians of the penal colony in Vladimirskaya, or the Navalny summer residence, have the daily confusion of a strictly confined, emaciated man who has the perpetual wry smile of bemusement as the current leadership, at all levels, has unravelled.
Putin and Lavrov should be reminded of the expression attributed to the Tacitus book Agricola,: “Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan”.
Peter Polack is the author of The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War (2013), Jamaica, The Land of Film (2017) and Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution (2018).
He was a contributor to Encyclopedia of Warfare (2013) and worked as a part-time reporter for Reuters News Agency in the Cayman Islands 2014-19 but now lives in Canada.
His work has been published in Small Wars Journal, Defence Procurement International, American Intelligence Journal, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center magazine, Military Times, Foreign Policy News, EU Today, Radio Free Europe, VOA Portuguese, South Africa Times, History Cooperative, INews Cayman, Jamaica Gleaner, Miami Herald, Reuters, Toronto Star and The New York Times.
His latest book entitled Soviet Spies Worldwide: Country by Country, 1940–1988 will be published by McFarland. The book is a compendium of Russian espionage activities with nearly five hundred Soviet spies expelled from nearly 100 countries worldwide.
He completed Only the Young Shall Die by with Jack McCain USNR about raising the age of military enlistment. He is currently doing research on a curated collection entitled War In Pictures of almost 1,000 images throughout several conflicts over many centuries.
https://www.amazon.com/Peter-Polack/e/B00BX13VUQ
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