July 2, 2026: The depraved treatment of Russian dead and wounded soldiers continues. The most recent atrocity was officers ordering badly wounded men back to the front line. These men suffered from a variety of injuries, including blindness in one eye, loss of hearing and broken bones with only a splint to allow the soldier to stumble forward on crutches. Since early in the war, officers had the authority to execute any soldier who retreated or refused to advance. An officer would often accompany the wounded men to the front line and abandon them there.

So far Russia has suffered 1.4 million killed, disabled and missing soldiers. That includes half a million dead. Finding new soldiers has become difficult. Military age men hide or illegally flee the country. This year, the fifth year of war, Russia has been unable to replace casualties. This led to the re-mobilization of the wounded. This may not last long because as friends and families of the wounded men found out what was happening, there was an outpouring of desperate pleas on social media and to local and national politicians.

At the same time President Vladimir Putin is trying to come up with a way to explain Russia's defeat in Ukraine and the eventual withdrawal of Russian forces. Back in 2022, Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine as a Special Operation that would last a week or two. Putin’s advisors had given their boss an overly optimistic assessment because they thought they could get away with it. Several advisors later complained that Putin is trying to get rid of the remaining wounded because these men are living testimony to the futility and waste of the Ukraine War.