Svetlana Alexievich’s “Zinky Boys” is about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Scenes from the book are a reminder of how little has changed
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThese stories might almost have come from Ukraine, now the graveyard of tens of thousands of invading Russian soldiers and conscripts from the “people’s republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk. But they are from a different war and another era.
Some 15,000 Soviet soldiers died in Afghanistan in a conflict that lasted a decade. Many more Russians are thought to have perished in Ukraine in seven months. Scenes in “Zinky Boys” are a reminder of how little has changed. Mothers and wives from forsaken towns mourn the dead. Official lies and slogans are meant to drown out their grief. Young men and women are broken by war.
Their atrocities haunt them for years. Hardened soldiers steal the uniforms of newly arrived conscripts. A dying man begs a friend not to tell his mother what he has seen on and off the battlefield. “Our children will grow up and deny their fathers ever fought here,” another despairs. Russian troops who invaded Ukraine will go home with similar stories.
Few of their compatriots will want to hear them. Even fewer will think of recording or writing them down. Because of “Zinky Boys”, Ms Alexievich was dragged through the courts in the 1990s, accused of defamation and desecrating the soldiers’ honour. Prison awaits anyone who writes a similar book in Russia today; it may be decades before ordinary Russians come to terms with the crimes committed in their name in Ukraine.
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