Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.
March 4, 2022 at 13:20 JST
Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, holds a copy of a screenshot he read from during his address to a U.N. General Assembly session on Feb. 28. (AP Photo)
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations presented text messages that he said a Russian soldier left on his smartphone before he was killed in action in Ukraine.
According to the messages Sergiy Kyslytsya read out to a U.N. General Assembly session on Feb. 28, his mother asked why he had not responded and if he was really in training.
The son replied: “Mama, I’m not in training sessions. There is a real war raging here. I’m afraid.”
He continued: “We are bombing all of the cities together, even targeting civilians. We were told that they would welcome us. ...”
Assuming the exchange was real, this is probably one of the most compelling portrayals of the war in Ukraine.
The Russian government has for the first time released the number of its military casualties, saying that 498 troops have died and more than 1,500 have been wounded.
Some believe the actual numbers must be higher. I suspect that some soldiers were hesitant to fight when they ended up injured or dead.
The iconic anti-war chanson “Le deserteur” (The Deserter), written by French author Boris Vian (1920-1959), is a powerful condemnation of war by a lowly soldier.
Upon receiving his call-up papers to leave for the front, the man writes a letter to the French president: “Mr. President, I do not want to go/ I am not on this Earth to kill wretched people.”
He decides to desert and tells the president in his letter, “If blood must be given/ Go give your own.”
When this song was released in the 1950s, many French citizens were being called up for service to fight in the Algerian War.
Its message must have resonated with people who did not want to be killers.
How long will the Russian president, who started a war by invading without an iota of justification, continue to order his people to keep killing?
--The Asahi Shimbun, March 4
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
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