A recently released tongue-in-cheek TikTok video from Russian soldiers shows a Russian suffering a near-fatal fall as he attempts to retreat with a high-value Ukrainian asset.

Sometimes I like to blog these. Here's why.

When there is a war happening, it's easy to forget that the people on both sides of the conflict are human beings. While this joke from the Russian is probably in poor taste, since we have seen rampant evidence of Russian soldiers looting in Ukraine, the point of the video that you should be seeing is that this is a kid. He's probably no older than 20 or 21 years old at the most, and to him, the war in Ukraine is just some adventure he's been voluntold to go on by his government.

To him, he likely has no idea what's happening on the broader world stage. He doesn't know how his actions are impacting the people of Ukraine on a day-to-day basis. For him, there will always be a tomorrow because he's invincible. Death and injuries in war are something that only happen to other people, it never happens to you. You always think you'll be the guy that gets to go home after everything is done, and you can leave that portion of your life behind you forever once it's done. After all, you're only twenty, you've got your whole life ahead of you still.

So, in the meantime, you make videos like this with your friends making light of the situation you've found yourselves in. He's likely heard the rumors from the opposition online calling Russians toilet thieves and every other awful thing people can think of that equates to them viewing him as non-human. He knows that he's hated, but he honestly has no idea why because from his perspective they're doing what's right for their country.

For him, a video like this is a way to cope with the situation in a humorous manner with his friends who are, in his mind, equally as invincible as he is, because casualties and deaths don't happen to your platoon, it always happens to another platoon or another company. You and your boys are obviously always invincible. You're all going to go home at the end of this thing, and it'll be something that you guys talk about at the bar with a few beers.

Until one day it all comes crashing down around you.

He'll likely not view the war in Ukraine as any type of atrocity until ten to twenty years from now when the gravity of the situation really starts to kick in. More than likely, he and his friends will remain invincible for a period of time until the reality of war finally opens up to them. This humorous video will remain funny for weeks and possibly even months for them, they may even make a few more of them as the time continues on. One day though, one of the guys in these videos won't be there to enjoy the laughs anymore, and they'll have watched him die violently.

War always catches up to you. It's sheer violence, and it doesn't give a shit about your perspective at the time. It catches up to you even harder ten years down the road when the criminality of the situation you stepped into starts to kick into your own world view as you mature into an adult. You get a sour taste in your mouth about it when you realize the friends you watched die violently did so for what equates to no real reason at all.

Why do I think this?

Well, I was this exact invincible kid making goofy videos in Iraq in 2008. I went through a seven-month combat deployment without a single person in my platoon becoming a casualty. We kicked in doors based on loose intelligence and pulled entire families out of their bed in the middle of the night to turn their house inside out looking for bomb-making materials and weapons. We traumatized kids and wives as we arrested disgruntled husbands who didn't agree with the purpose our government placed us in Iraq for. To this day I have peers who will disagree with me, saying that we were doing the right thing by being in Iraq, and to some extent, I can still agree with that statement as well.

Iraq needed Saddam Hussein about as much as Ukraine needs Russian government influence. Then again, Iraq needed the American Infantry Marine and Soldier stomping around in their country for another ten years after the fact about as much as they needed my platoon stomping around specifically in al-Karmah in 2008, where the greatest threat to the people was the extortionist police force we were funding.

In 2009 while on deployment in Afghanistan, my invincibility was tested. Just thirty days into my second deployment I was involved in an improvised explosive device attack that ejected me from my Humvee turret like an overcooked pop-tart. I spent the rest of that night helping various members of my truck get moved around, including our driver, who had the toes on his right foot touching his belly button while his heel pointed in the same direction as his chin and his femoral artery stained the sands of Farah province a bright red shade of attempted premature teenage death.

The reality of Afghanistan wouldn't kick in for me until 2021 when we abandoned the country some of my brothers burned alive in to fend for themselves to cheers of a war-weary America that couldn't understand our perspective anymore. It's hard watching the cycle continue once again, knowing that for both sides of yet another conflict, it's all going to be meaningless bloodshed for political hack-jobs spending the lives of yet another generation to enrich themselves.

Over time the reality of war and combat can and will change you, regardless of which side you fight on. Members of AQI and the Taliban didn't think they were on the wrong side of history any more than I did, and I doubt a majority of the members of both of those groups are any more evil than I am at their core, but it's all a matter of perspective.

From the perspective of the individual on the ground fighting the war, this is an exercise in survival and patriotism. You're fighting because you believe at your very core that you're right, and because the men and women to your left and right are family going through the exact same confusing and violent situation.

To this Russian soldier, most people will never be able to see his perspective. Judging from his sense of humor on the situation, I highly doubt he's an inherently evil human being destined to the deepest depths of Hell in the afterlife. Years down the road, he'll likely regret that he was pushed into the meat-grinder in Ukraine and asked to fight against Ukrainians who had infinitely more resolve than him, and someday in the future, he'll likely realize that the entire conflict had absolutely nothing to do with bettering his life or the lives of people he personally cares about.

War is and always will be about young men dying to enrich the lives of old men in positions of power.

I will now get off my soapbox. I will not be reading comments on this article. You can send any and all death threats from you being angry to "[email protected]". This was written in one take without proofreading. I own any and all typographical errors. This is also a blog post, not the news. That means it's exactly that, my opinion, my perspective. It may not align with yours, and that's perfectly okay. I don't hate you because we disagree on any one topic, and my opinion does not make yours irrelevant.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com