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Article: Soaked in blood...and never defeated.
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- September 17, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: CHRISTOPHER BELLAMY
DURING their prolonged and disastrous war with Afghanistan during the 1980s, captured Russians faced the same treatment as had been meted out to the British invaders a century and more before.
If they were lucky, conscripts sometimes got the ' quick death': they were staked out in the sun, a large piece of skin peeled off their stomach, and left until they stopped breathing.
Officers - particularly political officers and professional soldiers - were often less fortunate. They were subjected to the 'slow death' which meant just a small fold of skin and an agonisingly long time before the end came.
As America ...