A Russian Soldier Is Trying to Give Orders to an African Recruit Using Gestures. Neither Speaks the Other's Language.

A video published by United 24 shows a Russian soldier running alongside an African recruit, shouting instructions in Russian. The recruit doesn't understand. The soldier switches to gestures, to a single English word - "run," - to pointing. He laughs at himself: "My mom told me: learn English." He keeps running.

The recruit keeps up. He doesn't know what is being said to him. The location is Donbas. The video was published on Youtube.

What the Language Barrier Actually Means at the Front

This is not a funny clip about cultural misunderstanding. The language barrier the video captures is a direct threat to this man's survival.

If he is wounded and needs to tell someone where he is hit - he cannot. If he develops a fever or an infection and needs medical attention - he has no way to explain his symptoms. If he is disoriented after an explosion and needs to communicate his position - he has no words for it. If he decides he wants out - he has no way to ask.

Russia recruited this man and placed him in a unit where he cannot communicate with a single person around him. It did not provide an English-speaking liaison. It did not arrange any basic language preparation. He arrived at the front as a body, not as a soldier anyone is responsible for.

The Russian soldier in the video puts it best without meaning to. "My mom told me: learn English," he jokes, still running. His mom was right. But it's not his English that's the main problem.

There Is a Way Out

Foreign nationals currently serving in Russia's armed forces who want to leave can contact Ukraine's I Want to Live project. The project operates in multiple languages.