Cargo 200 (code name)
{{Short description|Russian code name for transported war casualties}}
{{Expand Russian|topic=mil|date=June 2015}}
Cargo 200 ({{langx|ru|Груз 200}}, Gruz dvésti) is a military code word used in the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet states referring to the transportation of military fatalities.{{cite web|url= http://blogs.voanews.com/russia-watch/2011/10/18/russian-killings-of-tajik-migrant-workers-now-on-a-par-with-americans-lynchings-in-the-1930s/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120509044110/http://blogs.voanews.com/russia-watch/2011/10/18/russian-killings-of-tajik-migrant-workers-now-on-a-par-with-americans-lynchings-in-the-1930s/ |url-status= dead |archive-date= 9 May 2012 |title= Russian Killings of Tajik Migrant Workers — Now at a Level with American Lynchings in the 1930s? |website= Voice of America |first= James |last= Brooke |date= 18 October 2011 |access-date= 12 April 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2014/06/03/59825-gruz-200-prodolzhenie|title=Груз 200. Продолжение|first=Мария |last= ТУРЧЕНКОВА|date=3 June 2014 |accessdate= 12 April 2015 |work= Novaya Gazeta |trans-title=Cargo 200. Continued |language= ru}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30039004|title= Ukraine crisis: Russian 'Cargo 200' crossed border - OSCE | work = BBC News Online | date=13 November 2014 | accessdate = 13 November 2014}}{{cite web|url= http://www.mil.gov.ua/news/2015/03/22/misiya-evakuacziya-200--/ |title= Місія «Евакуація 200 |website= mil.gov.ua |date= 22 March 2015 |access-date= 12 April 2015 |trans-title=Mission "Evacuation 200" |language= uk}} Officially, the term Cargo 200 is military jargon to refer specifically to the corpses of soldiers contained in zinc-lined coffins for air transportation. Unofficially, Cargo 200 is used to refer to all bodies of the dead being transported away from the battlefield, and has also become a euphemism for irretrievable losses of military personnel in a conflict.
Colloquially the abbreviated term may be used in reporting, e.g, "We have one 200th and four 300ths", i.e., one killed and four wounded.
Origins
The first appearance of Cargo 200 is unknown, except that it came into use in the mid-1980s during the Soviet–Afghan War. The main theory of the term's origin is the Ministry of Defense of the USSR Order No. 200, issued during the on 8 October 1984, coincidentally setting the standardized maximum weight for the air transportation of a deceased soldier's body at {{convert|200|kg|sp=us}}. The term saw widespread use in the Soviet military by the late 1980s, spawning the related code words Cargo 300 for the transportation of wounded personnel, and Cargo 100 for the transportation of munitions.
Modern usage
The term Cargo 200 has received new international attention since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014. Cargo 200 was referenced by the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the name of their 200rf.com website used to publicize Russian personnel killed and captured during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{Cite news|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/02/27/ukraine-launches-website-for-russians-to-find-killed-soldiers-a76628|title=Ukraine Launches Website for Russians to Find Killed Soldiers|date=27 February 2022|website=The Moscow Times}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/02/27/7326424/|title=Website 200rf.com launched for Russians to find family members captured in killed in action during the invasion of Ukraine|website=Ukrayinska Pravda}}{{Cite news|url=https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/ukraine-launches-website-to-help-russian-families-find-their-relatives-killed-in-combat/|title=Ukraine launches website to help Russian families find their relatives killed in combat.|website=The Kyiv Independent|date=27 February 2022}} Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi was nicknamed "General 200" in reference to the term Cargo 200 due to pursuing bloody Soviet-style military tactics which resulted in heavy Ukrainian casualties during the battle of Bakhmut.[https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2024/02/08/zaluzhny-is-out-the-butcher-is-in-00140206 Zaluzhny is out, the 'butcher' is in]
Related military code words
- Cargo 100: Ammunition[https://terminy.info/literature/big-dictionary-of-russian-proverbs/gruz Груз], an entry in the Большой словарь русских поговорок, Mosco, Олма Медиа Групп, В. М. Мокиенко, Т. Г. Никитина, 2007
- Cargo 300: Wounded
- Cargo 400: Concussed or captured{{cn|date=October 2024}}
- Cargo 500: Medical supplies.{{cn|date=October 2024}} After the start of Russo-Ukrainian War it was used to refer to "refusniks" (soldiers who refuse to fight) and deserters{{cn|date=October 2024}}
See also
- Cargo 200, 2007 Russian thriller film by Aleksei Balabanov
- Black Tulip
References
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