Oleg's Choice - A Personal Look at the Conflict in Ukraine

And this 

(which I haven't yet started reading) led me to Kanopy, where I searched "Ukraine" and found a documentary entitled Oleg's Choice - A Personal Look at the Conflict in Ukraine...which you can find here https://lfpl.kanopy.com/video/olegs-choice if you have a Louisville Free Library card. Or, presumably, anybody's library card.

I wasn't going to watch it right away, but then I decided to do an early AirDyne session, so....

And it wasn't at all what I was expecting.

I was expecting a sympathetic portrayal of the plight of the Ukrainians as they were relentlessly attacked by the far superior Russian forces.

But this documentary is primarily from the point of view of a Russian soldier. Oleg, in case you hadn't guessed.

And Oleg is a Russian fellow who has come to "help" his fellow Russians in Ukraine as Separtists attempt to tear the country apart. But the longer he stays, the more confused he gets. 

And the more cognizant he becomes of the danger of the situation he has casually walked into.

And he becomes all too well acquainted with the real horror of war. He also begins to suspect that the Russian Government is not telling the truth about what is going on....

Meanwhile, though, we see some glimpses of true humanity in the Russian soldiers.

Here we have the voice over of a Russian officer while a Ukrainian prisoner is brought before him...and given a meal.

So at the end of it all there's mostly that I Just Walked Out Of The Cave And That Sun Is So Bright That I Can't See feeling.

When I finished the film I started Googling around to see what else I could find out about it, and I happened upon a summary on imdB which I thought was saying that Oleg left the Russian army and joined the Ukrainians. That didn't make any sense to me...didn't seem to fit what I'd just seen...but I have to admit that there were times when I was confused, and there wasn't a whole lot of context given to some of the scenes. So I watched it again. No spoilers, but let me just say that Oleg does not join the Ukrainians. It's more complicated than that, too, but I'll leave that to you.

This was a truly great documentary. There are several scenes that are so poignant that they will bring you to tears. I am putting it on my Must See List.

If you can't get access to Kanopy, by the way, you can rent it from Amazon for 99¢. It is definitely worth doing.