Modern Russian Infantry—"Polite People"

 

Plastic Model Kit by Zvezda ("Star") a Russian Model Company

This is not the time or place to discuss my participation in a strange subculture not often in the public eye: the peculiar world of men (and some women) who build plastic military models from injection-molded kits.  There are many scales and subjects, from armor and other military vehicles to human figures (with an occasional animal figure thrown in for whimsey's sake) through to warships, warplanes, and complete dioramas.

I found the above figure set on a model site by chance a few days ago.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Zvezda is putting out this as a new issue at the same time that the Russian military is bombing a maternity hospital in Mariupol?!   Should I take the marketing of these “Polite People” as classic Russian propaganda gone horribly wrong, or as ironic, utterly brutal black humor of the kind for which the Russian race is famous.

I consulted my in-house Russian expert (and spouse) to get her take on the box art.  But, as Delphic and careful as she always is in such matters, she simply said, “It is a reflection of reality.”  😐  I should have known better.

The orange cat told me that there had to be a back story to this scene, as I had seen a similar image in one of Maxim Katz's YouTube videos. Googling "cat soldiers Ukraine," here is what I found:

This is a famous photo whose subject is the peaceful takeover of Crimea in 2014 by the “Little Green Men”. Such is its iconic significance that it’s actually the subject of a statue! See below.

Here’s some further background, courtesy of RFERL - Russia Unveils Monument To ‘Polite People’ Behind Crimean Invasion.  So, the Zvezda set was actually another commemoration of the bloodless conquest celebrated in the photo, not the current charnel house.  300 people were killed in Russian airstrike on Mariupol theater, Ukrainian authorities say.

Still, I wondered about the artist's intent in depicting the cat on the model box art.  The animal has an uncomfortable “What the hell am I doing here?” look that suggests subversion and a resentful premonition that it is about to become a propaganda prop. For me, the only question left was, would Zvezda make the feline's exploitation complete by including a cat figure in the kit?  So I asked a modeling acquaintance if he knew and was rewarded with this:

In the meantime, this article appeared on CNN. Ukrainian family: 11-year-old girl shot in face by Russian soldier.  I'm not sure what the reason was for the soldier's impoliteness, but I can say that the moniker "polite people" hasn't aged well.

No Russian I know here in America supports this insane fratricidal war, and many are silent with shame when the subject comes up.  They are also fearful that they will become the new Muslims in the wake of 9/11.

I can't say that I blame them.