The mothers of Russian soldiers conscripted into service and dying in a real war, not in a "special operation" of denazification, learn the truth over the phone, not from the media of the Russian Federation.
The mother of a soldier from the Russian Federation who died in Ukraine: "It's just a mess"
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On Friday, March 25, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that 1,351 Russian servicemen were killed in the first month of hostilities in Ukraine. In reality, the number of dead Russian soldiers can be from seven to fifteen thousand. Such figures are quoted by The Washington Post , citing a senior representative in NATO. The Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper on March 20, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, reported 9,861 dead, but a day later removed this information from the article, reporting a hack.
26-year-old Eugene, who served in Russia under a contract, died near Kiev in the rank of senior sergeant in the first days of the war. Eugene had never been in combat before. Before the war, he served in the National Guard - dispersed rallies in Moscow, then worked there as a dog handler. Until January of this year, his mother Natalia* was not interested in the events in Ukraine. She started looking for information in the Russian media only after she realized that her son was being sent to fight. Although Natalya supports the actions of the Russian authorities, she considers what is happening in Ukraine to be a real war, and not a special operation. In an interview with DW, she told what her son did in Ukraine and how he died.
DW: How are you feeling right now?
Mother Evgenia: You can say, no way. It's very hard, it hurts a lot. Well, what to do, no one will return.
- How did Eugene live before the army?
- We lived with Zhenya and his brother in a small village in the Sverdlovsk region. At some point, I decided at all costs to take the children to a place where they could get a normal education, where they would go to circles and sections. So we moved to a bigger city in the same Sverdlovsk region. I worked three jobs - in a grocery store, a technician and an operator in slot machines.
Zhenya in a new place went to the sixth grade, signed up for karate. This sport was difficult for him. He was a soft guy. But thanks to the coach and his own efforts, he began to succeed, victories began. His character has completely changed. I began to look at life differently. Then he studied as an electric and gas welder at a technical school, where he was paid a scholarship as the best.
- How did he end up in the contract army?
- He joined the army immediately after the exams in 2014. He ended up in the GRU special forces. Then he was transferred to another city in the intelligence special forces. Even then he was offered to sign a contract. I somehow dissuaded him, after all, special forces are hot spots.
He tried to get a job in a pre-trial detention center, but they didn't take him. I decided to collect certificates for work in the police, and for this time I got a job in security. He did not like the work, and he decided to try under the contract.
I learned that "buyers" from Moscow would come to the village nearby and recruit. He was immediately taken, so we had exactly one evening to say goodbye. Zhenya served in the National Guard. He liked it very much. He became a squad leader. They also dispersed protests. He went to Red Square, to Pushkinskaya. He also went to Kaliningrad on a business trip for three months. They were preparing for the rallies there.
He said that he was tired, so he decided to go to the dog training center. This is also the National Guard, only with dogs. And in 2017, his son was born. He had a girlfriend when he worked in security. She came to him in Moscow - there they signed, rented a room. And then Zhenya was given a service apartment, one-room, in a military town in a new building.
- How did the story with Ukraine begin?
- It was the end of January, around the 25-26th. The son called and said that they were being sent to Smolensk - for (joint. - Ed. ) Exercises with Belarus. I told him: "Are you lying to me, or what? What other teachings?" I searched on the Internet. Indeed , there were exercises with Belarus , but now they are gone. I started digging. I think where we have a war going on. I thought about Kazakhstan. In short, I didn’t even think about [Ukraine]. It was only the next day that it dawned on me that we were restless in Ukraine.
- That is, you immediately realized that your son was not sent to the exercises?
Yes. I told Zhenya that I'm not a fool. That he does not go to any Smolensk. She told him to take a picture then at the Smolensk railway station. He laughed. I started digging - and the further, the more I realized that he was going to Ukraine. I understood that there was some kind of specific mess.
I, of course, dissuaded him. She said that maybe he would come back, or maybe not. He replied: "Yes, what are you thinking?". He had no idea where he was being sent. Either they were so brainwashed that they were going to the exercises, or he knew, but did not imagine that such a mess would be there. Probably no one thought so. Even Putin himself. You see, something went wrong with them.
When he was brought in with a "cargo-200", I asked myself the question: why didn't I go to Moscow [to dissuade him], if I understood everything. Maybe he didn't understand, but I understood. He loved me very much, and I could put pressure on sore points so that he would refuse. Although if he undertook something, he went to the end. If given an order, he will never refuse.
As a result, he went seconded to a special forces group. One Zhenya was taken from his unit, because one cynologist was missing.
Have you been in contact since he left?
- He left there on February 13th. I jokingly asked him how he likes Smolensk. He laughed and replied that it was fine. I asked what they were eating and they said everything was fine. Then, maybe, during this time he got in touch three more times, but not more than a minute. Because I still need to call my wife. "Alive and healthy" - and all.
The last time he got in touch was on February 24 in the morning. When it started. From some boy's whatsapp. He said, "Mom, the war has begun." I said, "Son, I see it on TV." Imagine, he says, a whole company of our guys was put on the border. I ask: "Where, son?" "Somewhere... On the border, mom." I say: "Where are you?" "And I'm in Smolensk, mom."
I think he [actually] was somewhere nearby too. Only from the border he could fly on "turntables" to this airfield ( Gostomel near Kiev . - Ed. ), if it weren't okay. They say there were 200 "Spartans" there, as they were called. It was cannon fodder. Why it wasn't thought out like that, I don't understand. They thought that they had taken this airfield, and they began to fire at them.
In general, I told him: "Son, hold on." And he: "That's it, mom, for now. Once. Tell your wife that everything is fine." And then how much time until March 8 nothing was known.
- How did you spend these two weeks without contact with him?
- I always went with the phone. I thought maybe he would find a phone from civilians. All day long I watched TV, the Internet: I thought, suddenly I will see his face. She went to church every day. She lit a candle for health, ordered that they pray for him every day. But, you see, he died earlier. I didn't think he was dead. And on the day he died, I didn't have a headache.
On February 24 Zhenya was already in Gostomel. And he died not on February 27, as the date of death was indicated in the certificate from the morgue, but much earlier. I think it was from 24 to 25 at night or in the evening.
- Why do you think so?
- On the Internet, I looked that ours took Gostomel on February 24, after which they began to send all the guys there. And then they began to fire at them from Kyiv. Our guys were taken into the ring. And no one could come to help them. They began to shell and bombed for a day. Imagine - an airfield, an open field.
And then, already like on February 25, ours took Gostomel in a new way , and on February 26 they found Zhenya. Good thing it was signed. He went with a group of special forces. The guys are not the first time in such alterations. Apparently, they have such a feature - before the battle they write on each other's stomachs the unit number, surname and initials. It was signed and quickly identified.
But I was informed only on March 8th. Somewhere at 13:30 they called from his unit, they said that his son had died in a battle near Rostov. I almost lost my mind.
- So they said - near Rostov?
- Yes, they called and said: "We have bad news for you." I screamed. I already understand what happened. "Your son died on February 26 in the battle near Rostov." I don't know why it was reported in this form. Maybe because they were in the morgue in Rostov and they did not have verified information.
- How did you react to this news?
- When they told me that he was dead, I immediately screamed: "Where is Nancy?!" This is the dog, the German Shepherd, that he left with. Then they told me that Nancy died with him. He also had a puppy Altai - "Belgian", which he taught. Before the trip, he apparently had to decide with whom he would go. But the "Belgian" has not yet trained in explosives.
The next day they called me and offered a gift - a puppy that was born on the day of Zhenya's death - from the same parents from whom Nancy was. I'm going to Moscow now, I'll pick it up myself.
- Have you discussed the topic of Ukraine with Zhenya in the last eight years?
- To be honest, no. Only when I see something on TV, I always condoled that this was happening [in Donbass]. I began to delve into it at the end of January - I began to dig, look for where my son was going, what a mess there was. Since the end of January, I began to live with it.
Now I hate them all. Although they say that civilians have nothing to do with it. But they cover up. Whoever wanted to, moved out of there - they were warned. But our guys lie down there. I no longer have pity even for civilians. I look at the faces of these young boys who died there, and my hair stands on end.
- Do you understand why this war started?
- I understand it this way, in simple words: if we had not bombed, the Ukrainians would have bombed us. Perhaps it was necessary to bomb. There are no options here. But something went wrong. Of course, no one expected this. And now, if so many guys have already died, then you can’t stop. We need to go further. Until victory.
- Do you understand what Russia is doing in Ukraine? What did Zhenya fight for?
- I believe that my son fought for us, for Russia and the Russians. So that we can now talk on the phone, drink and eat. I think he lay there for a reason. And for us. So that we live happily ever after and that we do not have a war. To keep bombs from flying over us.
- In Russia it is forbidden to call this conflict a war. Do you yourself perceive this as a war or a special operation?
No, I don't see this as a special operation. This is the real war . I understand that this cannot be accepted. But this is war. It's just a mess.
*Name changed
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