Op-Ed: Some poor Russian kid and his teddy bear went to war.

ByPaul Wallis
Published March 6, 2022

There is a ban on Russian media mentioning the civilian deaths caused by the invasion of Ukraine. - Copyright AFP Kazuhiro NOGI

The familiar sight of a trashed Russian convoy in a video was a bit different this time. Western antitank missiles had shredded the vehicles. Prime movers were reduced to a trail of scrap metal. They’re not designed to take fire, and they didn’t.

Also present in this convoy, (see video at 1:38) was a teddy bear. Teddy bears aren’t usually invited to combat missions. The Russian army doesn’t enlist them. The Ukrainians don’t shoot at them. They have other things to shoot at.

This, therefore, must have been a very important teddy bear. It was certainly a lucky teddy bear. It was the only thing left intact in that convoy. A dead Russian soldier was almost intact, but not intact enough to be alive.

(The video considerately blurs the body. Nice to know not all camera people are ghouls.)

Who owns teddy bears?

People.

The shocking crime of teddy bear ownership still isn’t illegal for some obscure reason.

Teddy bears are truly universal. Nobody needs to be told what a teddy bear means. Everyone has had one, or something like one. Teddy bears don’t need explanation.

They’re always gifts of affection. Teddy bears mean a lot. You could see this one being given to the soldier as a gesture of love. A kid may have given it to a parent. A mother may have given it to her son. A girlfriend may have given it. Obviously, a lot of hope was attached to this teddy bear.

This teddy bear was still doing his teddy bear job, too. Despite his convoy being shot up, he gazes at the world with a friendly smile amid the carnage. He’s the epitome of something from a loving human environment given by one person to another.

Or to put it another way, he meant and means so much more than any trite symbol could ever mean. If there’s a war between propaganda and teddy bears, the teddy bears will win easily.

It’s also a perspective on this war and the abysmal state of the human race. This war isn’t about people. Not much is about people these days. It’s about geopolitical madness, spin, nukes, and everything but people. Politics in general is definitely not about people. Nor is finance. It’s all about a few people’s interests at the expense of everyone else on the planet. This war is a very good example of how totally devalued people are. Not even a cent in the dollar.

Stalin was totally wrong when he said people can’t comprehend a million deaths. They don’t need to; one or two is quite enough to get the message. In warfare, a lie repeated often enough doesn’t become truth; it becomes a lot more dead people, especially over time.

Some poor Russian kid and his teddy bear went to war. From the look of the vehicle, there probably wasn’t enough left to bury. The teddy bear, and the very human idea of teddy bears and what they mean to people, survive.

You tell me – What means more; the teddy bear idea of love and care or some totally pointless, unnecessary, damn war?

Get the hell out of Ukraine.