Since the beginning of the war, nearly 10,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine. The mother of one of them, Nikolai, 22, delivers a heartbreaking testimony.
“I learned of it on March 10 and his body was returned to us on March 15..” On February 27, just three days after the start of the war in Ukraine, Olga, a Russian mother from the Khantys-Mansis region, lost her son, Nikolai. Aged 22, the young Russian soldier was killed in the Kharkiv region, one of the first cities besieged by the army of Vladimir Poutine. And while the whole world today regards Russia as the enemy, Olga is incomprehensible. Until the announcement of the death of her son, she herself did not know that he was at the front. This war, which she cannot call by her name on pain of prosecution, she had not even seen it coming.
“Why did he participate in the g…, the special operation? I will probably never knowshe wonders in the columns of the World. But if I had known there was a special operation, I would have done everything to prevent him from going there. I don’t even understand how he was sent there. This is nonsense, you understand? (…) On February 20, he told me: ‘It’s fine, I’m in Belarus for exercises, on the 27th I’ll be back home.'” But Nikolai never came back. When she heard the news, Olga did try to ask for an explanation. But again, we left it in the dark. “The major said ‘what’s the use of knowing?'”
“If we had known we were going to fall so low, we would have put hay on the ground”
Like Nikolai, hundreds of young Russian soldiers fall on Ukrainian territory every day. Their deaths, uncountable, form an endless list on the sites of Russian cities and the local press. Today, despite her grief, Olga tries to find out what happened to Yvan, Nikolai’s friend. He too hasn’t given any news since the start of the war. “If we knew we’d fall so low, we’d put hay on the ground“, despairs the mother of the family.
According to a latest report published by the Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, almost 10,000 Russian soldiers are believed to have died in Ukraine since the start of the war. The toll of Ukrainian military casualties is unknown.
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Ukrainian soldiers
The toll of Ukrainian military casualties is unknown.
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A Ukrainian soldier
Every day, soldiers fall on both sides.
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Illustrations of the war in Kharkiv and Mariupol
Illustrations of the war in Kharkiv and Mariupol in Ukraine, March 8, 2022.
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A Ukrainian soldier
A Ukrainian soldier
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A Ukrainian soldier
A Ukrainian soldier in Kharkiv.
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Illustrations of the war in Ukraine
Illustrations of the war in Ukraine in the city of kyiv, March 2, 2022.
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Illustrations of the war in Ukraine
Olga lost her son in the Kharkiv region on February 27, 2022.
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Illustrations of the war in Ukraine
“I don’t even understand how he was sent there. It’s nonsense, do you understand?” Confides Olga.
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War in Ukraine
Civilian homes and businesses lie in ruins after Russian shelling in Kyiv on March 15, 2022.
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War in Ukraine
A devastated building after a bombing in kyiv.