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Chekov said: Let’s put God—and all these grand progressive ideas—to one side. Let’s begin with man; let’s be kind and attentive to the individual man—whether he’s a bishop, a peasant, an industrial magnate, a convict in the Sakhalin Islands or a waiter in a restaurant. Let’s begin with respect, compassion and love for the individual—or we’ll never get anywhere.
---V.G.

Going back to something fff said: the individual. Call me an old romantic, but I still believe in the individual.

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The story of the missing. Probably less interesting than it first appears, but still...mia..

"In the words of Khakimov, he would very much like to meet his relatives, if they want to and if it isn't damaging for them."

Nearly as good as the story are some of the comments, some of which are as follows:

@inmufti -

I lived in a tent for seven good years all over everywhere..He not a nomadic fool i promise you!

Yeah, yeah... we are not talking about two weeks in Yarmouth.

Had the "poor, stupid, nomadic fool" been in London last night, he could could have waited a couple of hours for Bieber to come on stage late to lip-synch a few songs. But he didn't. Idiot. Life has passed him by.

I bet Khakimov doesn't even have a Twitter account. He surely doesn't know that Marathons are now called Snickers. And he may have missed out on his chance to enjoy a horsemeat lasagne, unlike everyone else.

What was he thinking?...

I just thought, someone is going to have to tell him about Princess Diana.

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Friedrich:

My grandfather went MIA in WWII somewhere around Leningrad. My grandma always used to say (consoling herself) that he was taken POW and that he took the offer to stay. Sounds hard to believe but that was a practice used by the Russians even towards POWs in the Napoleonic Wars.

@jfriedrich - Sorry but more likely he died of cold/hunger/being worked to death in the Gulag. Like a significant proportion of captured Axis soldiers.

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We didn't know it but we had a Japanese Soldier living under our compost heap up until the mid 1960s he refused to surrender until he got a letter from the emperor.

Seriously that is an inspiring story.

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Nothing new.......... Laurel and Hardy did this in 1938 !

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If I was drafted into a superpower military and shipped off to a far away land and shot at, becoming herbal shaman and wandering at the feet of the Himalayas smoking opium would be a welcome respite.

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Wish I had some Spike to read right now!