It does not revive the same controversy that occurred during the annexation of Crimea in 2014. To avoid further criticism, Vladimir Putin has equipped the Russian army with a mobile crematorium so as not to leave any trace of the missing soldiers on the front.
As a Russian military operation began in Ukraine Thursday morning, an atypical device caught the attention of the British Ministry of Defense. In a video gone by telegraphA car carrying a crematorium was spotted in a Russian military convoy advancing on Ukrainian territory.
Ben Wallace, the British Minister of Defense, explained that this system would make it possible to hide casualties on the battlefield in order to protect themselves from possible criticism, as was the case in 2014.
“If I am a soldier and know that my generals do not trust me so much that they have followed me around the battlefield with a mobile crematorium, or if I am the mother or father of a son, potentially deployed to a combat zone, I believed My government believes that the way to hide the loss is a mobile crematorium, and I will be deeply and deeply concerned.”
Unmarked graves in 2014
During Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, some local and international media, as well as activists and rights groups, revealed that some Russian soldiers were buried in unknown graves to conceal the operation in Ukraine.
A wave of protest, supported by the mothers of the missing soldiers, swept the country to rise up against the official version. Therefore, the use of a mobile crematorium would make it possible to leave no traces on the ground and to avoid inquiries or questions from observers.
In the photos provided by the Ministry of Defense, the Cyrillic text indicates that the crematorium was made by a company that specializes in destroying biologically hazardous waste called Tourmaline, based in Saint Petersburg.
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