Tough luck to fight for Putin:
For him and thousands of other unrecognized, so-called veterans of the Kremlin-fomented conflict in eastern Ukraine, there is little, if any, glory beyond the battlefields of a war that grinds into a fourth year, with no end in sight.
These Russian vets didn't return to a hero's welcome. Most bear permanent scars, both physically and mentally, and with no veterans benefits and few jobs available they struggle to make ends meet. Moreover, infighting among different groups of them over ideology, strategy, and legacy has kept them from uniting as a more influential voice.
Be careful with that uniting stuff. Putin will see them as just another dissident group to be ruthlessly suppressed.
We need to make sure more tough luck descends on Russia.
