Reddit reviews One Soldier's War

I read this book a while back. Holy shit was it depressing. Made me very thankful to not be in the Russian military.

In One Soldiers War, he states Russian soldiers also sold weapons and ammunition to the Chechens.

https://www.amazon.com/One-Soldiers-War-Arkady-Babchenko/dp/0802144039


Amazing book on the 1st and 2nd Chechen war. Gave guys a bunch of old soviet equipment, not enough food or other supplies, told them to go off and fight Chechens.

They ended up having to trade gear to the Chechens just to have something to eat.

I mentioned this below, but I’d just like to add to the top comment that Babchenko’s memoir of the Chechen War, ‘One soldier’s war’, is available in English translation, bloody well-written and a fascinating soldier’s-eye-view of a brutal, filthy and complicated conflict. (Not saying all wars aren’t like that, but this one seems to have under the radar for a lot of people, also because the Russian government hasn’t been open about the death toll).


Sorry for hijacking the top comment, but I’d just like people to remember his work. Honestly, I read the book years ago and I can still remember lines from it to this day. There’s this part where he talks about the sheer terror he feels in the middle of a particular battle, and how the land must be so irradiated with people’s terror and pain that he can’t believe anything will ever grow there. Could be a metaphor for modern Russia to be honest.

Great summary. I've read a few books about the Chechen Wars (I'm a layman student of eastern European history) and one of my favorites was written by a low-ranking Russian soldier named Arkady Babchenko. He writes about the barbarity of the wars and the cruelty he suffered at the hands of his own Russian army. This book really stuck with me. It is haunting and heart-wrenching.

One Soldier's War

I read this book about the wars called One Soldier's War. It is some really brutal stuff. The author fought in both wars. The hazing that goes on in the Russian Army is insane. http://www.amazon.com/One-Soldiers-War-Arkady-Babchenko/dp/0802144039/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426116978&sr=8-1&keywords=one+soldiers+war

> The Soviet commanders in 1995 gave zero fucks.



That's what I also got from Babchenko.

I've been reading this book about the Chechen War, and it's only reinforced my belief of that quote.

I'd suggest that you read "One Soldier's War" for an idea of what Russia is capable of.

This one:

http://www.amazon.ca/One-Soldiers-War-Arkady-Babchenko/dp/0802144039/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330806054&sr=8-1

Sure, but they are also much bigger and they have a lot more to lose at this point economically. By the way if you want some good insight about how Russian army fights, take a look at this book http://www.amazon.com/One-Soldiers-War-Arkady-Babchenko/dp/0802144039/

Its from the Chechen wars, but the Army more or less still works the same.