Cargo 200 (code name)

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Cargo 200 (Russian: Груз 200, romanized: Gruz 200) is a military code word used in the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet states referring to the transportation of military fatalities. It is known since Soviet–Afghan War (1979 – 1989). 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.

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