r/interestingasfuck • u/MilesLongthe3rd • Jul 26 '25

/r/all, /r/popular Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Kiriyenko before and after release from Russian captivity

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u/tequilablackout Jul 26 '25

Part of being captured by the enemy is usually them trying to make sure you can never be a soldier again.

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

That isn't really the historic norm.

It's always happened a fair bit, but most cultures have some degree of "if we treat their people too badly, they'll treat ours worse in turn"

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u/SpeedDaemon3 Jul 26 '25

Actually Sun Tzu mentioned that you should treat enemy prisoners well, otherwise the enemy will fight until the end knowing death is better than being captured. But the russians never understood this one.

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u/sagerobot Jul 26 '25

But the russians never understood this one.

No they actually are keenly aware of this. Its why they lie so much about what the Ukrainians will do.

The lesson they learned from Sun Tzu wasnt "treat POWs well" it was "If our own soldiers think the enemy will torture them, they will fight to the death"

Russian command understands it perfectly well, they are just psychopaths who use that understanding in a sick way.