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On a recent May afternoon, a Russian train trundles through the country’s southwestern regions near the border with Ukraine. The train’s dining car is packed with Russian soldiers. Some are heading to the front lines in Ukraine, where their country has been waging war for over two years, while others are returning home for a short leave. Most of them are drinking. “Making war against the Ukrainians is tough,” confesses Dima, a soldier in his 40s. “It’s like fighting against some of our own.” With his ice-blue eyes, square jaw and muscular arms, he looks like he stepped out of an old Soviet war…

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