Russian people must see the horrific evil Putin war crimes

Russians should confront the horrors in Ukraine. 

#EvilPutin can’t mislead his people forever.

Opinion letter published in The Chicago Tribune:

Soldiers of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. photo by Yuri Biryukov

After the end of World War II, some German civilians were forced to confront the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis in their names, sometimes by visiting the death camps and, sometimes, by burying corpses and digging up mass graves*.

Similarly, the Russian people must be made to confront what is being done in Ukraine in their name. Unfortunately, it is not practical to transport Russian citizens to Ukraine to see the extent of the atrocities and the lies about them that they are being fed, but it seems unlikely that even a totalitarian like Putin can keep what most of the world knows from his people.

I would think that his biggest problem will come from the survivors of the Ukraine assault in the Russian military and from the families of those who did not survive. The former is likely to include tens of thousands of young men who have suffered moral injuries from what they have seen and done in Ukraine. The latter are, also numerous and they will want answers that will not be forthcoming. Neither group is likely to be silent in the absence of coercion and anger may make them reckless about what they say. Putin may imprison them, but he can’t take back what people have heard from them.

In an environment of shrinking resources and a context of defeat or a (daunting and) costly stalemate in Ukraine, I wonder if keeping these people from credibly contradicting his lies will stretch Putin’s capability for oppression to the breaking point. One can hope ... (IMO we must hope and pray....)

— Curt Fredrikson, Mokena  Illinois

The Wehrmacht were the unified forces of Nazi Germany

* Eisenhower’s Foresight: Protecting the Truth of the Holocaust

General Eisenhower foresaw a day when the horrors of the Holocaust might be denied. He invited the media to document the scene. He compelled Germans living in the surrounding towns and any soldier not fighting at the front to witness the atrocities for themselves.