Grabbing the dead is 1 of the Catholic acts of mercy toward the flesh. In military terminology, this is referred to as euphemistically as ‘specialistic logistics services’ (1). Nice, isn't it? As a young soldier of the Reserve Podchorzych Service, I had an indisputable impression that all service regulations were written by people who never left the desk in an air-conditioned room. Having smelled the powder in a real war, I am convinced that all the rules of service are written by aliens. They are meant to act in theatre like a fist to the nose. If you want, find that order on the net and read it. But know this – in practice it doesn't work that way. No, that's it. At least not in the war I've seen and you can see.
In war, burying the dead takes on a somewhat different meaning from the ritual you know in times of peace. Unfortunately, erstwhile you are “in the theatre of action”, you can meet the dead rather often. They could be civilian victims, or soldiers fighting sides. It's hard to talk about, but it could besides be your loved ones. Therefore, it is better not to postpone evacuation from the battlefields until the last minute and test your happiness to its limits. If you are counting on specialised branches providing specialist logistics services, presume that they will clean erstwhile it is cleaned up. The reality of the war that I want to equip you with the essential applicable cognition is that specialised services usually exhume. Ad hoc burials remainder on the shoulders of another "services". possibly yours, too.
As long as the manoeuvring war continues, so surely in her first hours and days, the corpses can be found in many places where the fighting was fought. Forget everything you know about work to the dead. Dead is dead. It needs to be cleaned up so that dogs don't upset him (and they do it without undue delay; cats or chickens, too, only they are smaller and have little "processing powers"; chaotic birds are rather nasty in this occupation due to the fact that they start with the eyes). And wellness hazard. That can't be underestimated. War is simply a curse – there is no request to add sepsis, food poisoning, toxplasmosis, salmonella and God knows what else.
Of course, if there are inactive (already) services in the area, you can limit yourself to reporting the fact of uncovering the body. But sometimes a find specified as the photograph below rests solely on your shoulders. Smoke if you're a passerby. But erstwhile it's under your fence, it's getting problematic. yet – bury the dead. It's a Christian duty. Yes, war is simply a time of hard choices. Definitely hard. Definitely beyond yours or my capabilities. But he'll come to make them anyway. That's how it works.
Photo 13. The fallen Russian soldier. April 2022, fresh Bulls. [photo: own]
All right. Houston, we have a problem! We proceed to an analytical evaluation. First and foremost, due to the fact that they will not compose you in any military regulations, orders, etc. The body can be mined. Yes, yes, you haven't heard. The body can be mined. Fighting an invader from the east is not just any "special military operation" or war. It's a clash of cultures. Our culture, in which life is precious, and the dead 1 should be respected, with a culture which is said in jokes to be not culture, but "the state of the soul." To say about the invaders from the east that they represent the ‘state of the soul’ is to say nothing. I don't want to continue. I will limit myself to the fact that the Ukrainians, who had the unpleasantness to enter into closer contact with them during the war, usually called them "non-people" (i.e. non-humans – briefly and accurately). Consider, then, that any dead body found in the theatre may be a trap. How do we deal with this? Cold.
In the first step, which is mandatory, is the attachment to the leg of the victim of a line about 10-15 m long (remember the lecture on mines? I wouldn't hazard a 10-foot rope, hiding behind any kind of obstacle and pulling the bodies off the scene so they'd definitely move. The body presented in the photograph is very nicely located. There's a thick tree that will halt the shrapnel of any possible booby trap. However, erstwhile specified shields are missing, these 15 meters of line must be the minimum for safety.
You take that step no substance what further plans you have for a dead body. Not everyone should be educated like you. Imagine that 2 privates equipped with “Rules of Land Army Action” and zero applicable experience will take our patient by the hands and legs and effort to put him on a stretcher, and here – boom! Surprise.
If you can't do anything but check for mined objects, check and leave a visible annotation (the best will be cardboard and marker): "Min is not there". It is clear that if you find yourself a dead body with an inscription “Min does not have” or “Мин нет” you inactive check. It's not like you're gonna hazard being fooled. Your annotation is intended only to draw attention to the next 1 after you, to see if the victim has an entertaining character.
Okay. Test done, I hope the patient didn't explode. After the explosion, it becomes little aesthetic. Instead, it becomes more “teaching” due to the fact that you can get an opinion on what would happen to you after taking part in the explosion. But let's presume this 1 didn't explode. Now you're moving on to the recognition stage.
Are you checking who started? Our non-ours, possibly a civilian? Depending on who it is and what your method capabilities are, you will take appropriate further steps. As for the method possibilities, consider that with a shovel you will not dig. Especially erstwhile you're alone. A shovel and a pickax is simply a basic minimum. And a fewer people to help. And optimally, it's a digger and any kind of transport to choice up all the petents and get them to their pre-elected location. A place distant from watercourses, trees, buildings, etc. – mostly intuition must propose that it will be easy to dig and no 1 will dig. Consider the farmer's ability to plow his field, and he's 80 cm deep.
erstwhile your method capabilities match your planned intentions, you consider who starts. If our soldier, you register. The soldier has a dog tag. If it is simply a fresh pattern, it will be 1 oval sheet consisting of 2 parts. If it's an old man, it's 2 plates. erstwhile your patient has a broken single sheet or 1 sheet without the ability to break, it means that individual has already taken the data. So you're burying with a soldier's "half" dog tag. Regulations say to put it in your mouth – but not besides much. There'll be O.K. on the chain around the neck besides (if there's a neck...).
In the case of a civilian, you are decently looking for papers or items to identify. If it does, you take it, or pack it as resistant as possible to the conditions under the ground and leave it with the corpse. You take a image of yourself – the devil knows erstwhile and what it will be useful for. I mean, the guy who was killed had any relatives...
What if you're walking the invader the last way? Well, there are provisions for specified circumstances (2) and indeed! The ceremony is to be held with reverence and, as far as possible, according to the rite of religion of the deceased... Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. I can see you looking for the pop of the Moscow Patriarchate or any shaman from Siberia. The ancient Romans had simpler solutions: Inter arma silent leges (3). I'm leaving you for your consideration. My good Russians just went underground. And I didn't get a ticket for it. I don't have any nightmares about that either. How you say it nicely in the place where I live: "Don't beat up the licks" (4). Amen.
There is another option to consider. That the occupiers forbid the burial of the dead. The past of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict shows that specified barbarous activities that do not fall within the legal or customary framework of conducting armed conflicts happen rather often. This is not a "systemic" approach. This depends on the whim of local field commanders, who frequently carry out any of their own, not entirely understandable policies for carrying out military activities. What then? Hmm... You most likely didn't take into account that this alternatively symbolic and metaphorical track can take on literal meaning so quickly. Unfortunately, past is rolling. And whoever died is dead.
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Footnotes:
(1) - Regulations of Action of the Land Army, Order No 553/DWL Commanders of the Land Army of 03 November 2008, p. 384 (available on the Internet).
(2) - The War Victim Protection Convention. Signed in Geneva on 12 August 1949.
(3) - Inter arma silent leges (lac.) - during the war the laws stay silent.
(4) - Не хуй було (ukr.) - it was not essential to push.
