, The Daily Beast; War-Crazed Putin Unleashes Epidemic of Horrific Teenage Crimes
"There’s no shortage of horror stories in the news about brutal crimes by children...
Experts say it’s impossible to ignore the connection between this rise in brutal violence and the Kremlin’s glorification of war. On state television, military service is glamorized and teenagers are encouraged to join, with one new movie about a young rapper who joins the war clearly designed to appeal to Russian teens.
And the fallout from Russia’s war is routinely ignored. A study of court filings published by the independent news outlet Verstka earlier this month found that more than 1,000 Russians have been killed or injured by Russian soldiers returning from Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in February 2022. At least 551 people were killed in incidents involving veterans, while 274 of those victims were murdered, according to the report.
One of the key ways to get canon fodder for Putin’s war is to recruit criminals. Families of crime victims have protested Putin’s practice of pardoning killers in exchange for their participation in the war, hoping those who murdered their loved ones would remain behind bars. But the Kremlin has defended the practice, insisting the freed killers are “atoning” for their crimes on the battlefield."
