---
title: "US troops left behind dick drawings at an abandoned Syrian camp they knew Russian soldiers would take over"
description: "On Tuesday, Russian reporter Oleg Blokhin posted a video of himself at an abandoned U.S. military outpost in Manbij, Syria alongside Russian military police. Then he found the dicks"
date: "2019-10-16"
modified: "2019-10-16"
authors:
  - name: "Jared Keller"
    job_title: "Former Managing Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/russian-base-syria-dick-drawings/"
categories:
  - "Around the World"
  - "Middle East"
  - "News"
  - "Russia"
tags:
  - "central command"
---

# US troops left behind dick drawings at an abandoned Syrian camp they knew Russian soldiers would take over

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/01/Screen-Shot-2021-09-01-at-9.17.07-AM.png>)
*(Telegram/Oleg Blokhin)*

Nothing says "hello" from one fighting force to another like a bunch of crude dick drawings.

On Tuesday, Russian reporter Oleg Blokhin posted a video of himself at an abandoned U.S. military outpost in Manbij, Syria alongside Russian military police, a video that presaged the potential arrival of Wagner Group private security contractors known to operate in the war-torn country.

Army Col. Myles Caggins, the chief spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, [confirmed](<https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/video-shows-russian-speaking-man-abandoned-u-s-base-syria-n1066796>) to NBC News that U.S. forces has [evacuated](<https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/video-shows-russian-speaking-man-abandoned-u-s-base-syria-n1066796>) from Manbij in line with the "deliberate withdrawal from northeast Syria" that President Donald Trump had ordered days earlier.

But while Blokhin's footage from the camp appears to show a U.S. outpost stripped of any sensitive vehicles or equipment, the Russian journalist [did stumble onto](<https://t.me/Oleg_Blokhin/2218>) a different trove of, uh sensitive documents:

Ah yes, dicks and gay jokes, the tried-and-true mark of elite warfighters since Roman soldiers scrawled dongs into Hadrian's Wall at the empire's northernmost border more than 1,800 years ago.

But while some elements aren't surprising — that Cyrillic translates directly to "faggot," which, well, how very original — some are, most notably the "ur moms favorite jtac" graffiti and [this delightful bit of political symbolism](<https://t.me/Oleg_Blokhin/2218>).

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/image-placeholder-title-769.png>)
*(Telegram/Oleg Blokhin)*

War, war never changes — it just gets dumber and dumber.

## Author
Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications.

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