Old Habits Die Hard – Russian Troops Loot Abandoned Villages in Kursk

When the Tsar quit WWI, he didn't provide transportation for his army to return home. He simply said, "Go home." A band of those soldiers entered the village of my mother-in-law in Ukraine to rape and pillage. She was only about 11 at the time and was brutally attacked, beaten on the shoulder with a saber and stabbed with a bayonet. She bore the scars on her shoulder and lost the ring finger on her left hand as the bayonet pierced the infant brother she was carrying and wounded her. She and the infant were tossed aside into a ditch. Of course these modern Russian soldiers are looting. They too are being sent into battle without proper training, uniforms, weapons, equipment or food. They also lack proper leadership. Who would expect military discipline? Thus, it's more than a habit, it's necessity and fear.