Why is the coffin with the body of a deceased soldier called “cargo 200”
The term “cargo 200” entered into use in the eighties with the outbreak of Afghan war. The news of his arrival was everyone: both the commanders of the units and the relatives of the soldiers who found themselves in Afghanistan.
The thing is that the “cargo 200” was called a zinc coffin with the body of a soldier or a soldier who died his death during the battle of a soldier. But why did this heavy load receive just such a name?
History of the appearance of the term “cargo 200”
This term appeared in 1984, in the midst of the Afghan conflict. It was then that the corresponding order of the USSR Ministry of Defense was issued. He was signed on the eight of October 8 and was listed under number 200. By this order, the Ministry of Defense approved the management of military transportation. Among other things, it prescribed the rules for transporting containers with the bodies of dead officers and soldiers in air and ground transport.
Almost immediately after the announcement of Order No. 200, the military in their dialogs began to be called transported coffins with the bodies of soldiers with a load of 200, which greatly simplified negotiations. In addition, this helped to hide from enemies intercepting radio messages that transported one or another aircraft. In communication between the military, they even began to use the verb formed from the term “cargo 200” – “sdvuhkhil”. So they talked about some broken object or dead soldier. But there is another version of the appearance of the term “cargo 200”.
In the same order No. 200, the maximum weight of the zinc coffin with the body of the deceased was prescribed. It amounted to 200 kilograms for air transport and 300 kilograms for ground and sea. And since the dead soldiers were most often delivered from Afghanistan by airplanes and helicopters, there were more goods weighing 200 kilograms. It is likely that it was for this reason that soldiers in zinc coffins began to be called “cargo 200”. Such a large weight, by the way, is not random and is due to the features of transporting bodies of the days of time.
Why are buried and transported in zinc coffins
Not only in Russia, but also in many other countries, the bodies of the dead are transported only in zinc coffins. By the way, this rule refers not only to the transportation of soldiers, but also by civilians who died away from their place of residence. According to the rules of transportation, the weight of the zinc coffin, along with the body and wooden box in which the coffin is transported, should not be more than 200 kilograms – this, as we already know, in the case of transportation by an airplane. The zinc coffin is a hermetically sealed container, inside which the body of the deceased is placed.
Zinc coffins preparing for sending from Afghanistan
Due to the tightness of the container, the body decomposes much slower than in an ordinary wooden coffin. In addition, due to tightness, an unpleasant odor emanating from the corpse does not apply to the cargo compartment of the aircraft or train carriage. And this method of transporting bodies prevents the spread of diseases. Since the coffin with the body is sealed, then microorganisms that cause diseases cannot enter the air. Indeed, in zinc coffins, not only dead soldiers are transported, but also people who died due to various diseases. Buried in them dead patients for the same reason-to prevent infection due to opening a hermetic container. The soldiers are lowered underground in the zinc coffin if there is little left of the body or it is in a completely unsightly form.
The choice of zinc as a material for coffins is determined by other factors. This metal is not too expensive and, moreover, is not affected by rust. It is no coincidence that zinc is added to other metals to extend the service life of the product.
Other cargoes with numbers
In addition to “cargo 200”, in the everyday life of the Russian military there are other terms that indicate various “cargoes”. For example, a wounded soldier, exported from the battlefield on an airplane, helicopter or other transport, is called “cargo 300”. So it happened due to the number of the typical form, which is filled during the transportation of the wounded.
There are other designations of various cargoes. So, the transported money is called “cargo 700”, and ammunition – “cargo 100”. During hostilities, prisoners of war during transportation are listed as “cargo 400”. “Cargo 500” is called the transported gold, and “cargo 800” denotes chemical weapons.
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