This column was originally published on ERR.ee, translated and published with the permission of

Regardless of how Russia's war against Ukraine ends, it has already created a big problem for Russian society: military veterans. Older readers may remember the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and I remember it well. It was then that the term "Afghan" appeared, i.e., a veteran of the Afghan war.

Over the course of ten years, 620,000 men went through the Afghan campaign, and they had a significant impact on society. The authorities, of course, did not recognize this, did not talk or write about it much, but most of the veterans became dangerous to society.

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