Russian-made cannon fodder genocide

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. It’s not only a military invasion to conquer lands, it’s also an invasion to eliminate Ukrainian nation, which can rightly be called a genocide. It’s a horrible thing by itself. But maybe there is one more genocide happening now. It’s hidden and is happening within Russia and territories it controls. It may be called a “genocide by cannon-foddering” or a “cannon fodder genocide”.

I will briefly explain the point.

Thesis

Ethnic minorities from Russia die disproportionally in the war. Russians from Moscow and surroundings die much less than from the ethnic regions of Tuva, Dagestan and Buryatia. The mobilisation is often forced, people protest, but their voices are not listened to.

Map by https://t.me/s/mozhemobyasnit with confirmed Russian deatsh per region Confirmed Russian military deaths by region

Then there is a notion of “Barrier Troops” (заградотряд), which are still a thing in the Russian army. The Barrier Troops are the ones who do not fight by themselves, but shoot those, who don’t want to fight and flee from the battlefield. It’s well known that there were lots of unsatisfied conscripts from Russia who did not want to fight (not because they were kind and peaceful, but because they were untrained and unequipped) but they still fought (and died).

These factors: disproportionate amount of ethnic minorities in the Russian army, forced mobilisation which happens more in ethnic minorities regions, and existence of Barrier Troops contribute to a hidden genocide of ethnic minorities in Russia by making them a cannon fodder.

Implication

There is also a forced mobilisation on the Ukrainian lands already occupied by Russians [2]. Which makes Ukrainians from occupied territories become a fighters against Ukrainians from the Ukrainian-controlled territories.

There is one implication of this — in case Ukraine surrenders to Russia, Ukrainians may become the next cannon fodder factory and a trampoline for the Russian imperialistic goals to fight against Poland or Baltic states. Please keep that in mind when you hear voices calling for Ukraine to surrender (usually veiled with the “finding a compromise” and “doing peace talks” sentences).

Disclaimer

Now, to be absolutely fair — there are lots of ethnic Russians dying at the war as well. And the difference between Russian and non-Russians regions may be explained by some other factors than ethnic ones, like cultural or economical. So explanations may vary.

Genocide by cannon fodder is a hypothesis. It may be real, but disguised — Russians would not openly admit this happening. It may be a byproduct of Russian policies (which could get a name of a “systemic genocide” comparing it to the “systemic racism” in USA). It may be even a desirable byproduct (desirable for Russia I mean). But in any case — if Ukrainians surrender then they will become a part of a Russian army for the future invasions.

[2] As an example for this tactics: https://gur.gov.ua/en/content/v-horlivtsi-vnaslidok-mobilizatsii-do-okupatsiinoi-armii-praktychno-ne-zalyshylos-cholovikiv.html Map taken from:

https://vgolos.ua/news/buryati-dagestanci-ta-inshi-narodi-rosiyi-yaki-zaraz-masovo-ginut-v-ukrayini-mozhut-povernuti-zbroyu-proti-putina_1425118.html