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too. Back then, when the fighting was in full swing, they used to leave them by the side of the runway like this and cover them with tarpaulin, only there were ten times as many. There were two familiar posters at the brigade’s gatehouse: ‘Soldier! Think before you touch - it could be dangerous!’ and ‘Soldier! Careless talk costs lives!’ There’s no-one better at thinking up slogans and posters than the military: in Khankala there’s a poster that sees the soldiers off on their sweep operations with the words ‘Have a good journey!’ I drive on and on through Chechnya. Something is wrong. Perhaps the war really is coming to an end. Maybe my
soldier’s nose for lousy places has deceived me and maybe it really is time to open a spa for holiday-makers? There are unique sulphuric springs here, and you could cure every sickness in the world in the geysers of Chechnya’s plains. As a soldier in Grozny this was how I cured the ulcers that broke out on my skin from the dirt, the cold and the nervous tension. You could only crawl up to the springs then; now they’ve built car washes beside them and the locals do a little business out of all the free hot water. Maybe peace really is just around the comer. *
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ONE SOLDIER’S WAR IN CHECHNYA ARK
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WRITER, AND HIS REMARKABLE STORIES
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LITERARY TRADITION [...] FOR SHOWIN
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BUT KILL AND MAIM PEOPLE SPIRITUALL
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ONE SOLDIER’S WAR IN CHECHNYA ARK
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difficulty sorting out. The Chechny
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of the non-Chechen population was a
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General Grachyov’s announcement t
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at the frontline town of Mozdok, on
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he was therefore powerless as presi
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for sure. My experiences of the sec
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themselves. Many of them were hardg
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ONE
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ackpack. You need ammunition, so yo
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alongside. They are even worse off:
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and everything. They looked at us w
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sulphide was good for the kidneys.
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to the water barrel they brought to
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We spotted them by the greenish tin
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was standing on lookout at dawn, sa
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there was no-one closer or dearer t
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open the door, and wait. Silence. S
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forever, and in the time it takes t
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wait for cries, moans, point-blank
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attalion is a serious matter and th
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06/ The Cow We inherited the cow fr
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it like God’s nectar. We drank in
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‘It’s only a cow.’ ‘I know.
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puttees was soaked. And we were shi
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into an animal I was summoned by th
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08/ The Ninth Neighbourhood Before
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we ask one of them, ‘Are you aliv
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having taken the houses so easily.
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hitting our guys. Infantrymen pour
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At last the bombardment dies down a
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When the lads get back, Sigai comes
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gnawed on corpses in the ruins. Thi
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our feet and listened to us discuss
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10/ The Apartment I had an apartmen
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anyone. I didn’t want some strang
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ests on my rough, dirty, cracked an
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I’ll take it with me. I might nee
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TWO
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spread out on top to dry as we soak
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lipped and small, the smallest sold
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to get the hell out of here faster.
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ottle of lemonade and a kilo of cho
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‘As far as I'm concerned, it’s
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smelled so appetizingly of wild str
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hundred blokes uniformly expressed
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to escape from the bombardments. Th
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een waiting almost a week, and buil
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grabbed them by the corners and whe
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But now I sense he will spill the b
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her, she never pulled another stunt
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up like foetuses, and if we had eat
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with transparent slices of salted p
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‘What makes you think the planes
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wounded, put them on stretchers and
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unway piled up with corpses, and tw
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and probably more than a month. ‘
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others will stay here. Maybe not fo
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inside the Arctic Circle where life
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ecome brothers, where we experience
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‘Well, Kisel, see you then,’ I
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his head he barks: ‘A team of fiv
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the middle of this field. They are
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‘It’s the same Ural,’ says Lo
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no more war. I have left it all beh
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the dark tarpaulin and we didn’t
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‘Bloody hell, what is this place?
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a sling is trying to find out somet
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lock since the captain brought us h
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faster and faster along the strip,
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are now barefoot and the soldiers s
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‘Shall we go for a quick march to
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my home in the Taganka district, an
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We leap to our feet like madmen and
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porch, smoking and watching the att
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slaves and do what the hell they li
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no way I can leave here; I have ano
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warm and sticky. I lick the blood f
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me to get a cloth and clean up the
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tell me I’m a snitch and that thi
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never to end so that there is alway
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factory, and it’s dirt cheap. Eve
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for breakfast. And me. Well, are yo
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But I have no right to complain, I
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only you and me left. Kisel’s gon
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twig. The afternoon sentry muster i
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‘Listen, maybe Sanya has some in
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get up to. We walk along the street
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Chechnya but home, to the north. We
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Today Timokha doesn’t kick me out
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duty soldier. No officer ever comes
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the barracks. Only Timokha and I ar
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carried their bag of stuff into Moz
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Now Khariton and Smiler are sitting
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down you,’ says Timokha. He’s a
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waking every time we hear shouts co
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threads from blue legs, mouths gapi
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that he’s done for. ‘You are su
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some; they were just in Chechnya an
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He gets off the windowsill and plop
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Well, I imagine you’ve already go
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major starts to dictate: ‘On 7 Ju
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with it by towing the carrier into
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the jar with his fingers. He pushes
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sentry musters and our company just
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there all night long. Whenever I he
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est of us, Loop, Andy and I have de
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Zyuzik and I scrubbed those crapper
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Timokha takes the news surprisingly
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my hands in my pockets I’d also g
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granddad and then there are conflic
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dembels, with three months service
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have any right to live at all, and
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separately in a different barracks,
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‘Now that’s a shitty place they
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‘Take it easy, I’ve had my fair
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orchard where we can hide without a
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Lenochka, how I’d love to...' Loo
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offended. ‘Natasha, who I was at
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him. Andy spits over his shoulder t
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stuff. We don’t even know how to
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Andy. ‘No, not all of them, Vital
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effective, blood everywhere, and mo
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guts and I fancy a sleep. We laze a
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day, then you regard it as a day wa
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triumphantly, as if he has uncovere
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from Russia just for the asking,’
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‘No-one can explain the whys and
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eating the pulp out of each other o
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somewhere. After we hear this we lo
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They start kicking him and make him
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these things, soldiers of the radio
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Chechnya. We don’t care any more,
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callers. For example, the phone rin
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successes and we are starting to ge
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flight of stairs, open the door and
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split the proceeds, and even our Mo
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flares or thunder-flashes, but that
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fitted with a siren that, when acti
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that’s not what he’s after. He
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‘Why?’ Said says with surprisin
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ecause he knows that will be more p
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‘Listen lads, let’s take him do
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me get out of bed. This isn’t eve
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Something in my right side has swol
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and I rock backwards and forwards,
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know that I am now in total shit. W
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charred and swollen, are brought to
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tormented by lice and filth, be bea
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I can’t tear my eyes away from th
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These two are crazed way beyond any
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a helicopter in a forty-degree heat
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egiment, used to the beatings and t
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cynicism, and it can never be cross
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left to waste away. These tents con
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with a stool. They say a fair bit o
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all right. What if I manage to hang
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‘Great girl, isn’t she? Everyon
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us more than the commanders and the
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and cling onto me from all sides, m
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itch.’ He splits my lower lip wit
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have the strength to change anythin
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the level crossing, townsfolk waiti
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Her name is Aunt Lusya. There were
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downwards, entering his chest and e
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Everything that happens here should
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look at my busted face to realize t
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forming columns here and sending th
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mean they’ve already sent more th
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Kotenochkin, jumping up onto his ca
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lagging behind.’ The column stops
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dumped concrete blocks. On both sid
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the other side of that barrier at t
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‘Defensive positions!’ We all j
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It’s the carriers firing, aiming
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armour. His knee is warm. The sun i
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The plains of Chechnya are surround
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these to the top every day, which i
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appears. You can smell the stale al
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answer. The skinny one brushes his
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a long way off, making the carrier
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let their guys run errands for them
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‘Where are you from, Tall Boy?’
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heading. ‘How about you go and ge
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whole battalion is now sitting in t
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people lived in the steppe a thousa
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take in the dead city. There is sho
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Two vehicles are knocked out but th
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Fighting rages on in Grozny. No-one
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odies. ‘Hold your fire!’ shouts
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The next night our side brings up a
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‘Bastards!’ says Murky, unable
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you’ll see,’ Andy says. ‘Teet
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we are willing to live in whatever
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Then they melt the TNT from them. N
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found it immediately. Just imagine
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for it here. I can’t imagine a ra
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used it to bump me up in my service
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with a heavy army stool every day f
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few rounds with each other, they co
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square. They were thrown down in pi
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Slav and Tom. Two more move along t
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over. After the blast, we scooped t
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Next to it there is a coil of wire
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nowhere to withdraw to for a rest,
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machines. Boys? We have the same ar
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ground, with pieces of shrapnel fly
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The next regiment lost fifteen men
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In Grozny they set up joint command
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We leave through streets that we to
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watch our column in silence. Their
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and looks at me again. They laugh.
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We don’t know what we are fightin
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anyone ever asks me, ‘What were y
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sniper fire. They wrap them up in t
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for the ‘special cargo’, cartin
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work side by side with his subordin
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I tried to push my feet under the c
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although he was only nineteen like
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usual tomfoolery I’d throw him ou
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men. At least they are afraid of de
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into my armpit to warm it up while
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I was afraid that my frozen legs wo
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look lively, they've already called
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guilty in front of her, the guilt a
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stand in her presence...’ I didn
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that the major had slapped on us; t
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‘Uh-huh.’ I curled up, pulled t
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embrace. Such a date only happens o
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spare second sleeping, and he can
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double portion of pearl barley toda
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‘Five to twelve,’ he answers. H
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no light, no joy, no love, and no h
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Everyone is firing ceaselessly, let
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the commander and closer to the kit
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idly poking at the fire with a clea
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together with nature, concentrated
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seemed to work out for him, or it w
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to make a big song and dance out of
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humps on the top of two of them, sh
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ackside - the armour’s wet.’ Th
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driver on the head and he let the c
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adio to save the battery. Grey Chec
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around on this armoured carrier, st
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Alkhan-Yurt. They’ve got them hem
Page 503 and 504:
it had an imperious ring to it, lik
Page 505 and 506:
put and jumped down. I stood up, st
Page 507 and 508:
I followed him ‘OK, take it easy.
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‘No, some moron infantry. I mean,
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headed back there too. ‘OK Vasya,
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of the carrier and covered our rear
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of them there, easy as anything, an
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people. They survive but they lose
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spreading out among the ditches and
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undergrowth, vanished into the mars
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washed clean of mud, grease and die
Page 525 and 526:
We poked around by the edge of the
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were any in the lowland area, didn
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I moved a little, trying to slip of
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I stood up to my full height, bent
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I remembered how I had once spotted
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those dickheads in a minute.’ He
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and a packet of raisins. Ventus onl
Page 539 and 540:
After we’d taken care of the tin,
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‘We fancied a bit of hunting, so
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minibus to our Moscow region unit,
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johns. They had more lice than thre
Page 547 and 548:
like that wouldn’t simply give up
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get it? Incurable. And now you are
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get out of it for a day Heating, my
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‘Right... And you call me a philo
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state of delirium I’d jump around
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Islands. I have a completely differ
Page 559 and 560:
ut who knows? Two days ago they did
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cast a circle of pale light on the
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on. The lads are pretty tired. Lay
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where the tarpaulin should be. I pu
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conserve warmth, and now I desperat
Page 569 and 570:
leak and light a fire. I raised mys
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ground. The infantry sat about ten
Page 573 and 574:
Someone with his chin tucked into h
Page 575 and 576:
ebbs. Then war crawls out of you in
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too rough.’ But after the hot dri
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his dirty fingers picked off a coup
Page 581 and 582:
waited. Any moment now, one more st
Page 583 and 584:
emptiness of my stomach? I suddenly
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juicy. I picked another, then a thi
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tired ourselves. Everyone returned
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They could at least send us water.
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Alkhan-Kala seemed to vanish, swept
Page 593 and 594:
you and leaves you speechless. ‘N
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couple of minutes. As the dust sett
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usual arrogant pose, his arm restin
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the Bee launcher from the carrier.
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only a wet, eternally muddy dug-out
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on top of the carrier and I was ama
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very important, so much so that it
Page 607 and 608:
I started to sweat and my clothing
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a centimetre above it. ‘I’ll bl
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‘Comrade Major! Comrade Major!’
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the barn to the village outskirts;
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and waited until he’d reached the
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tugged the foot of the nearest sold
Page 619 and 620:
the grass between the figures plast
Page 621 and 622:
I didn’t reply, so Sitnikov lower
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escape. The house withered under th
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head. My skull was ringing, I could
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‘Call Armour, you dumb prick!’
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time. The kid’s stunned, I though
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to fight or to stand round scratchi
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and froze, their barrels quivering
Page 635 and 636:
killing was different, on a lesser
Page 637 and 638:
Crouching, the infantry ran after u
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knackered running through the woods
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shaking and I cursed my ungainly fl
Page 643 and 644:
with just as much difficulty. The i
Page 645 and 646:
I groped my way down onto a small r
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it all, I lowered my head to the la
Page 649 and 650:
had been a piece of cake this time,
Page 651 and 652:
were bullets going whack-whack in t
Page 653 and 654:
shrapnel, and I was entirely visibl
Page 655 and 656:
And dear God, do it right now, beca
Page 657 and 658:
his trousers, one by one, and dropp
Page 659 and 660:
heaving with laughter, unable to st
Page 661 and 662:
on her face as she listens to her f
Page 663 and 664:
this is all we get for our pains? I
Page 665 and 666:
The psychologist used to be a plato
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happened to the driver and the esco
Page 669 and 670:
left. We stayed on the highway and
Page 671 and 672:
would run across the open ground. T
Page 673 and 674:
know where the driver is?’ ‘Gon
Page 675 and 676:
frilly edge of the pie, while this
Page 677 and 678:
all they could do is keep him pinne
Page 679 and 680:
sprouting wires from the burnt tire
Page 681 and 682:
again, this time with a mortar batt
Page 683 and 684:
and even happily. Now he stood by t
Page 685 and 686:
mortar guys raced around Chechnya d
Page 687 and 688:
He suddenly fell silent and turned
Page 689 and 690:
have field guns.’ The commander t
Page 691 and 692:
‘Just some locals,’ the infantr
Page 693 and 694:
others. And we had eagerly carried
Page 695 and 696:
stove. I only came to my senses whe
Page 697 and 698:
embraced us soldiers like babes in
Page 699 and 700:
night and snowfall had thrown a cle
Page 701 and 702:
opposite the cross-shaped hospital,
Page 703 and 704:
got blown up on a minefield. We too
Page 705 and 706:
and devouring our dry rations. We
Page 707 and 708:
here. I go out onto the porch and t
Page 709 and 710:
the sky. I go up to a platoon comma
Page 711 and 712:
operation, when he was pulling the
Page 713 and 714:
metres from our positions, sending
Page 715 and 716:
aren’t many of them, maybe a hund
Page 717 and 718:
and I am suddenly terrified, racked
Page 719 and 720:
eyes. The injured smoke agitatedly
Page 721 and 722:
without trouble - it’s dead groun
Page 723 and 724:
ow stretches about two hundred metr
Page 725 and 726:
way behind the enemy front line and
Page 727 and 728:
has any doubts about that. Only a t
Page 729 and 730:
the yard. There are no more tripwir
Page 731 and 732:
the Chechens can’t see us and are
Page 733 and 734:
pickles. Not a bad haul, I say to m
Page 735 and 736:
as we call the wounded guys, and it
Page 737 and 738:
a piece of shrapnel in the thigh du
Page 739 and 740:
and I wake. It’s ten to one. I ro
Page 741 and 742:
the lookout over in that house. One
Page 743 and 744:
apple tree quiver in the wind and i
Page 745 and 746:
fell asleep, their heads resting on
Page 747 and 748:
hurry - today we’ll have to advan
Page 749 and 750:
pieces that can take the edge off t
Page 751 and 752:
my mood a boost and I start to whis
Page 753 and 754:
18/ Argun We are halted for the fou
Page 755 and 756:
are, for there’s no-one in the wo
Page 757 and 758:
from the heels of a platoon.’ ‘
Page 759 and 760:
ibs. It turns out that some of them
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Sundays. How are they supposed to h
Page 763 and 764:
from the river and use those. Each
Page 765 and 766:
We finish the ribs. We’ve gnawed
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Sharo-Argun. What a terrible name.
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hole.’ I shut my eyes, lie on my
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Then he’ll lie in a puddle and st
Page 773 and 774:
‘Some businessmen we are, Fixa,
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an straight into another group of f
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abducted his sister and demanded a
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manage to. Suddenly there’s a sin
Page 781 and 782:
oad by the fence. They’ll get us
Page 783 and 784:
a long scratch on his cheek. What b
Page 785 and 786:
The fighters could inflict far more
Page 787 and 788:
He knows it sounds unconvincing but
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hooked the place up to the electric
Page 791 and 792:
We stand by the tents and bluntly s
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eaking into the trailer wagon that
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ground. The muzzle flash is invisib
Page 797 and 798:
children. To make matters worse the
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shooting but the commotion is gradu
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with my elbow and he bumps me back
Page 803 and 804:
well hidden in the ditch and there
Page 805 and 806:
Our raid has yielded eighteen cans
Page 807 and 808:
can’t get it past the fence and i
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upon them and gave them a beating,
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to his shoulder blades with a crack
Page 813 and 814:
and we have the right to bring it u
Page 815 and 816:
even greater rage. There’s someth
Page 817 and 818:
place. Thieving is both the foundat
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luxurious houses for generals that
Page 821 and 822:
post as our commanders down more vo
Page 823 and 824:
army. And since we want nothing mor
Page 825 and 826:
own children? Competent, conscienti
Page 827 and 828:
unway and I would sleep with a blan
Page 829 and 830:
the elevator. Our 8th company is ho
Page 831 and 832:
orders, nodding to the two prostrat
Page 833 and 834:
ut fine for a rinse. A captured Mit
Page 835 and 836:
distinguished themselves. Medals ar
Page 837 and 838:
ass fanfare,’ he says. ‘Otherwi
Page 839 and 840:
February, Defenders of the Fatherla
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taken prisoner. But generals are an
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officers get posted there with thei
Page 845 and 846:
should never be any luxury there so
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the rest of us in a cashier’s off
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have to be bred, trained in the aca
Page 851 and 852:
that they have violent hazing even
Page 853 and 854:
in the ranks! After this he goes on
Page 855 and 856:
enemy were forced to abandon their
Page 857 and 858:
and fired on them at point-blank ra
Page 859 and 860:
‘Cooks, drivers, clerks, everyone
Page 861 and 862:
to receive a smack in the mouth fro
Page 863 and 864:
least bit shy and soon we forget ou
Page 865 and 866:
stand like orphaned children by the
Page 867 and 868:
food, scooping condensed milk into
Page 869 and 870:
he holds it in two fingers and read
Page 871 and 872:
postcard from a bunch of kids? Well
Page 873 and 874:
attalion. Our stomachs are unaccust
Page 875 and 876:
newspaper, and within two days only
Page 877 and 878:
smirking. ‘That’s prohibited we
Page 879 and 880:
attalion has flowers springing from
Page 881 and 882:
water. We keep our find a secret, b
Page 883 and 884:
officers is shot up near the villag
Page 885 and 886:
same rebel group that killed the of
Page 887 and 888:
give way and I sit down sharply on
Page 889 and 890:
and then did the same to two new gu
Page 891 and 892:
Sure enough, they’re already insi
Page 893 and 894:
position, climbing up the heap of r
Page 895 and 896:
ecome an obsession. That’s all I
Page 897 and 898: the size of a baby’s palm. Smalle
Page 899 and 900: Olga’s tender touch is so much li
Page 901 and 902: jerk so Oleg grabs him by one arm a
Page 903 and 904: muscles in his cheeks twitch. ‘Wh
Page 905 and 906: here and they consider it an unacce
Page 907 and 908: perimeter fence, and you can get lo
Page 909 and 910: superfluous here in this place in t
Page 911 and 912: een a hoot! Then they would know wh
Page 913 and 914: dreadful crime, plain murder, slaug
Page 915 and 916: ‘Did you come here with the medic
Page 917 and 918: the war is over. It starts to rain.
Page 919 and 920: 19/ A Soldier's Dream Snow fell the
Page 921 and 922: Night-time means fear. As dusk fall
Page 923 and 924: starting to beat down, warming my b
Page 925 and 926: he falls silent, looks at me strang
Page 927 and 928: sleep when they are dead tired. He
Page 929 and 930: His face becomes grey, dead. His te
Page 931 and 932: 20/ Field Deception War always smel
Page 933 and 934: then, the same tents, the tower, th
Page 935 and 936: General Shamanov, flew in to inspec
Page 937 and 938: us he was coming for. Turned out it
Page 939 and 940: went right through him. ‘There wa
Page 941 and 942: of barracks, green grass and white
Page 943 and 944: there isn’t, they’ll go and rob
Page 945 and 946: would happen as did after the Khasa
Page 947: us.’ ‘It’s bearable now,’ h
Page 951 and 952: people wonder why they drop out of
Page 953 and 954: seven killed and sixteen wounded.
Page 955 and 956: and children, to go to God knows wh
Page 957 and 958: different and so similar, pass befo
Page 959 and 960: colonel: ‘No smoking here!’ I s
Page 961 and 962: different one. It’s very similar
Page 963 and 964: close-range fire on three sides, sh
Page 965 and 966: smile in mutual understanding. Some
Page 967 and 968: 22/ Lais At the base of the 45th re
Page 969 and 970: he was just eighteen years old. Eve
Page 971 and 972: quite happily. Sasha was one of tho
Page 973 and 974: men heading in the direction of Kir
Page 975 and 976: long before the column itself. Acco
Page 977 and 978: missed the Chechens too and kept mo
Page 979 and 980: paratroops had walked into a trap.
Page 981 and 982: don’t you hurry up then, we’ll
Page 983 and 984: ‘I didn’t know what was going o
Page 985 and 986: thinking that I can’t call him Al
Page 987 and 988: he remembers that fight. Only his h
Page 989 and 990: Regiment TV programme bring Sasha
Page 991 and 992: someone. On 7 August he doesn’t m
Page 993 and 994: When I first went to war in June 19
Page 995 and 996: while all the time she was subconsc
Page 997 and 998: yet seen anything of life. You’d
Page 999 and 1000:
myself to my hearing, which grew ra
Page 1001 and 1002:
kept creeping across the depression
Page 1003 and 1004:
was in pain and if the bandage was
Page 1005 and 1006:
instead. But Basayev made it throug
Page 1007 and 1008:
leader and his deputy supply office
Page 1009 and 1010:
torn-off arms, the white flesh of t
Page 1011 and 1012:
my stomach. The sense of death in t
Page 1013 and 1014:
feet now there was just plain, hone
Page 1015 and 1016:
at that moment her eyes acquired an
Page 1017 and 1018:
with, then it becomes stronger in w
Page 1019 and 1020:
ead them the criminal code and dwel
Page 1021 and 1022:
him Limon), the other was called Ru
Page 1023 and 1024:
could have stayed with the Russians
Page 1025 and 1026:
would be quiet and not shout. Beati
Page 1027 and 1028:
ecause he was a conscript himself.
Page 1029 and 1030:
guards. When the graves were ready,
Page 1031 and 1032:
The teacher didn’t make it in tim
Page 1033 and 1034:
forcefully turning him over to the
Page 1035 and 1036:
office of the North Caucasus milita
Page 1037 and 1038:
prisoner but killed them on the spo
Page 1039 and 1040:
no-one could count even now. It was
Page 1041 and 1042:
junk back home, drink away the mone
Page 1043 and 1044:
the camps had taught them the tough
Page 1045 and 1046:
has not evaded the investigation. S
Page 1047 and 1048:
them to the army, and their main ch
Page 1049 and 1050:
a little gang of others who had don
Page 1051 and 1052:
anyway, someone has to mop the latr
Page 1053 and 1054:
26/ Operation 'Life' Continues No-o
Page 1055 and 1056:
life again. You learn to walk witho
Page 1057 and 1058:
You now remember the war as some ca
Page 1059 and 1060:
pen and paper and produce the first
Page 1061 and 1062:
should die before they know what wa
Page 1063 and 1064:
when they return. Ave Caesar, morit
Page 1065 and 1066:
keep up with life any more. All the
Page 1067 and 1068:
told me about getting his leg torn
Page 1069 and 1070:
‘Did you ever think the Dubrovka
Page 1071 and 1072:
have fun, live, drink beer and earn
Page 1073 and 1074:
Military Abbreviations AGS automati
Page 1075 and 1076:
Table of Contents Preface 01 Mounta
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