A phone rings on the desk in his Kremlin office and he answers and says, \u201cHello, sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cHave you seen that interview?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe one from Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou\u2019re not supposed to watch foreign propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou need to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe exhales hard and asks, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cBecause I can feel it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI guarantee it\u2019s a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tLooking over gray Moscow through a floor to ceiling window in her penthouse, she raises her voice. \u201cWatch the interview. It\u2019s horrible. A Ukrainian speaking Russian says he can\u2019t open the back of a huge truck because there are four or five hundred dead guys in there, and it wouldn\u2019t be right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDon\u2019t listen to Ukrainians.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s worried warmer weather will soon create an overwhelming odor. They plan to take the bodies to Kyiv and, if you\u2019ll let them, send the bodies home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe doesn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDid you hear me?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey deserve to come home in flag-draped coffins and be formally greeted by you at the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI can\u2019t do that,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt would make me look bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cNot paying your respects makes you look worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe rises from his desk, phone in hand, and walks hard around the office. \u201cI\u2019ve always told you to stay out of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI can\u2019t help thinking of them piled and rotting in that truck. They\u2019re somebody\u2019s children. They could be ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI\u2019m fighting to save Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cFrom Ukraine, from the United States, from NATO.\u201d <\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey\u2019re not going to attack. You have too many nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou don\u2019t understand politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe man in Ukraine said they have many trucks loaded with Russians. I\u2019m hearing reports they\u2019ve killed ten to fifteen thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe stops walking and says, \u201cThey\u2019re exaggerating. They haven\u2019t killed more than fifteen hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey may be overstating our casualties, but you\u2019re probably understating them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDon\u2019t question my integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAll right. Give another patriotic speech right away, tonight, and ask Ukraine to return all our dead soldiers. Let\u2019s see how many trucks they send. You owe it to the young men and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI\u2019m very busy. I\u2019ll see you in a few hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cNot tonight. I don\u2019t feel well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhen can I come?\u201d he asks. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cI\u2019ll let you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI own that place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPerhaps I should move out,\u201d she says, and hangs up.<\/p>\n
\tHe steps to a wall and punches it with his empty hand. Then he calls a general and says, \u201cI told you we\u2019ve got to get rid of the bodies quickly and inconspicuously.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt\u2019s often impossible to reclaim all our fallen soldiers during battle,\u201d says the general.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe need more mobile crematoriums.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe general says, \u201cFine, but we still won\u2019t be able to retrieve all the bodies for incineration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou and the others have screwed up this whole operation, which should\u2019ve been completed long ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPerhaps we shouldn\u2019t have undertaken this operation at all,\u201d says the general.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cDon\u2019t ever say that again, even in private.\u201d<\/p>\n