BERLIN — A Russian soldier's searing firsthand account of the Ukraine invasion — depicting ordinary foot soldiers exploited as cannon fodder by inept commanders and a cynical Kremlin leadership — is drawing decidedly mixed reviews from inside and outside the battle zone.
For many outside observers, the ex-serviceman's 141-page memoir, posted by him online in early August, offers a rare inside glimpse of Moscow's brutal yet bungled attempt to subdue a smaller and less powerful neighbor.
But six months into a devastating war, some Ukrainians believe that widespread Western media attention to the veteran ex-paratrooper's journal unfairly lionizes a willing tool of the Russian military machine, who should share in the accountability for wartime atrocities.
