Societies change over time. The political philosophy known as the “Overton Window” measures how a population views what is palatable to them over a certain period, measuring the electorate’s mood on numerous issues and their acceptability to the general public.
950-plus days since the Putin-directed full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, we have seen a discourse similar to the “Overton Window” unfold among both casual observers and alleged military and civil society experts across the world when it comes to what are acceptable actions by the Kremlin’s war criminal laden military.
Be it ongoing Nuclear blackmail, the use of illegal chemical weapons, the castration of male Ukrainian prisoners of war, or wanton acts of murder by Russian military forces of detained Ukrainians filmed for the viewing public, a grim numbness has settled upon the coverage of events surrounding Ukraine’s ongoing fight for liberty and liberation.
Recently, new videos obtained by the Ukrainian Defense Forces, in conjunction with internal Russian partisans as part of the “Operation Pharmakon” initiative, force a viewer to ask just what is taking place inside the Russian Federation while casting an ever-darker shadow on Moscow’s claims of being a beacon of Christianity and righteousness.
In previous times, as evidence emerged of the genocidal acts carried out against Ukraine by the invaders, some “neutral” commentators chalked it up to the proverbial bad actors. At the same time, those blatantly promoting the agenda of the Kremlin applauded the heinous acts no matter how brutal they were.
However, proof has yet again been uncovered to reasonably ask how broken and beyond repair internal Russian society and its structures are, but how far can a society plummet before collapsing upon itself? The damning videos mentioned above, while heinous on their own, are made even more barbaric when viewed in light of the self-congratulatory messaging that accompanies them.
On September 28th and again on October 3rd, a Russian NGO whose name roughly translates to “Craftsmen to the Front” published videos highlighting the work of so-called volunteers assembling components for use in Russian military operations.
The group’s Telegram channel boasts that they “…print plastic products on our 3D printers and donate them to the ‘SVO’ fighters free of charge. While that mission statement in itself is not unusual, nor are the products they manufacture unique (which range from components used to bomb Ukrainian civilians to accessories made for AK-74 assault rifles), the workforce they utilize comes from an exploited and at-risk demographic. This demographic should not only be treated with respect but shielded from the gruesome horrors of their country’s war machine. Yet, the “Craftsmen” and their co-conspirators not only exploit these vulnerable human beings, they openly tout themselves doing this.
The video posted by the “Craftsmen” on September 28th shows a 23-year-old busy putting together parts for the Russian military. Identified as Oleg, the caption underneath the video and several still frames indicate he is a helper from “Boomerang of Good.”
Several days later, the “Craftsmen” uploaded a new video with an upbeat soundtrack. It shows several young adults and those who appear to be minors happily working. The caption introduces the group’s latest “assistants” and again references the “Boomerang of Good.”
What is “Boomerang for Good”? Their own VK page describes themselves in the following way:
“Despite serious diagnoses of their own children, lack of money and time, families raising disabled children found courage and strength, united and created in the closed city of Snezhinsk, first a public organization, and in March 2015 – opened the Center for comprehensive rehabilitation and socialization of children with disabilities and children with disabilities.
Today, our organization unites more than 150 families raising children with special needs, regardless of age, and the architecture of the Center includes 4 structural divisions.
Later, the group reveals that their ties to Putin himself are strong:
The non-profit organization, “Boomerang of Good,” was included in the TOP-100 best projects-winners of the Presidential Grants competition, is an 8-time recipient of grants from the President of the Russian Federation, a 5-time recipient of grants from the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, and has been repeatedly supported by regional subsidies from the Ministry of Social Relations and the Main Directorate for Labor and Employment of the Population of the Chelyabinsk Region.
The non-profit organization “Boomerang of Good” was included in the number of the best municipal “practices and initiatives of socio-economic development in municipalities in the territories of presence of the State Corporation Rosatom in 2021 (it won 8 times in competitions among non-profit organizations for the development and implementation of socially significant projects on the initiative of the Public Council of the State Corporation Rosatom).”
In Russia, any NGO lauded in the way “Boomerang of Good” has been by both Putin’s Presidential seal of approval in the issuance of grants and from the regional and local governments is simply an extension of Moscow’s criminal cabal. It also means that a group that started to benefit families of Russian children with disabilities has now moved into pimping out these same children on behalf of a genocidal dictator.
When shown the videos, Oleksandr Musienko, a leading military analyst in Ukraine and head of the Center for Military and Legal Studies in Kyiv, stated, “What Russian propaganda won’t show is this harsh reality behind this facade. They won’t show how they force unfortunate children with disabilities to work for Putin’s war machine. Such actions surpass the criminality of any past dictatorial regimes.”
After viewing the information and harsh evidence that accompanied the posts, “Vera,” one of the primary conduits for partisan activity inside the Russian Federation and a key participant in the ongoing Operation Pharmakon, pointed to a chilling truth: “Unfortunately, we have heard these rumors for a long time. If the media were to dig deeper, they would find filth, horrors, and cynicism way beyond anything that the Western audience is used to.”
With castrations forgotten and executions ignored, will the sanctioned enslavement and exploitation of mentally disabled children and adults by authorities inside of Russia finally force groups to listen? Only time can answer that, but if it isn’t, the global orders’ Overton window will cease to exist, blown out like so many thousands of windows across Kharkiv, Kherson, and Kyiv by the Russian Federation’s evil interpretation of humanity itself.
Sarah Ashton-Cirillo is a Sergeant in the Ukrainian Defense Forces who has been in Ukraine for more than 950 days. Sergeant Ashton-Cirillo is a member of the National Press Club and was an analyst and investigative journalist focused on issues related to political and business matters.
