OPINION:
“Scum and traitors” lie with great frequency. Case in point: Vladimir Putin, who lied and said there are Nazis in Ukraine. The only Nazis in Ukraine are the Russian occupiers.
He lied when he said the 100,000-plus Russian soldiers near Ukraine in February were only on training exercises, and he has lied about Russian casualties. He claims Russian casualties are low, but Ukraine estimates that over 90,000 Russians have died or been seriously wounded.
Russia has lost over 200 jet warplanes in less than 10 months of fighting with Ukraine. They lost more than twice the number of warplanes the Soviet Union lost in a decade of war in Afghanistan. Over 15,000 Soviet soldiers died in that war; Russia has lost three times that number in less than a year in Ukraine.
Mr. Putin and his supporters have lied to Russian soldiers and their families about having their loans forgiven, getting big paychecks and receiving adequate equipment and training.
Mr. Putin and his advocates are the “scum and traitors” he described. The Russians who want to stop the war with Ukraine and get rid of him and his dictatorship are the real patriotic heroes of Russia. When will real patriots in Russia spit out Vladimir Putin?
WOODROW WILCOX
Dyer, Indiana
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