- Joined
- Apr 12, 2021
The BBC says they can confirm that 557 Russians have been killed in action:
PHOTOGRAPHER,EGOR ALEEV/TASS
The funeral of the sergeant of the Russian army Ilnur Sibgatullin in Nizhnekamsk was held with the participation of the guard of honor
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not reported the losses of the Russian army in Ukraine for 18 days. Based on open sources, the BBC Russian Service found out that the names of 557 dead Russian soldiers have already been confirmed.
March 2 - for the first and only time - the Ministry of Defense reported on those killed in the war in Ukraine. At that time, the Ministry of Defense claimed , 498 soldiers had died. Since then, there have been no new reports of losses from the Russian department.
The American newspaper The New York Times, citing "conservative estimates" of American intelligence, called the figure at seven thousand dead. However, the publication indicates that the data is based on the analysis of the media, satellite images, photographs of Russian soldiers and Russian equipment that came under fire, so the information may be inaccurate.
In Russia, every day there are more and more names of the dead and photographs from the funeral. Most often, the names are given by the heads of Russian regions, local media or educational institutions where the deceased previously studied. In several cases, close relatives spoke about the dead.
The BBC, based only on reports containing specific information about the deceased, including the full name and rank, has compiled a list of Russian military dead. There are 557 people on this list.
Media reports citing sources about dozens and sometimes hundreds of dead were not taken into account if they did not contain specific information about names and surnames. We also did not take into account reports of deaths of people who are not regular Russian military (that is, those who serve in the units of the self-proclaimed "DNR" and "LNR", as well as employees of the so-called "Wagner PMC").
PHOTOGRAPHER,NAIL FATTAKHOV/TASS
Chelyabinsk. Relatives say goodbye to serviceman Konstantin Glushkov
We quickly, simply and clearly explain what happened, why it is important and what will happen next.
episodes
End of Story Podcast
Although, for example, Radio Liberty (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent), citing sources, reported that at least 130 contract servicemen from Dagestan were killed in Ukraine. In open sources, the BBC found information about 51 dead.
In addition to the 557 confirmed military dead, the BBC has found reports of another 38 Russian military dead in Ukraine, but there is no independent confirmation of these deaths at the moment.
Senator from Tuva Lyudmila Narusova said that at least 96 conscripts were killed in Ukraine: "As a result, out of a company of one hundred people, four remained alive," Narusova said during a discussion of amendments to the Criminal Code, which provide for up to 15 years in prison for spreading fake news about the armed forces.
The senator asked the Department of Defense to confirm this information, but did not receive a response. The Russian authorities have long claimed that there are no Russian conscripts in Ukraine, but a few days later they nevertheless admitted that "several conscript soldiers" were still present in parts of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.
The first name of the Russian soldier who died in Ukraine was named by the head of Dagestan on February 26. In the first days of March, the heads of several other Russian regions announced the names of the dead military. In mid-March, dozens of official reports about the funerals of soldiers and officers in Russian cities and villages began to appear.
The BBC has sent a request to the Ministry of Defense asking for the death toll and is awaiting a response.
Sukhovetsky participated in the Russian military operation in Syria, was awarded two Orders of Courage, the Order of Military Merit and medals. Ukraine believes that four Russian generals have already died, but only Sukhovetsky's death has been officially confirmed.
The list of confirmed losses of the Russian army includes seven colonels: Viktor Isaikin from Mordovia, Sergey Porokhnya from Bashkiria, Dmitry Safronov from Tatarstan, Igor Nikolaev from the Ryazan region, Ruslan Rudnev from the Samara region, Alexander Zakharov from the Nizhny Novgorod region and Sergey Sukharev from the Kostroma region.
Also, the authorities of Sevastopol confirmed the death of captain 1st rank (corresponds to the rank of colonel in the ground forces), deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Andrey Paliy.
"In 1993, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to Ukraine, remained loyal to Russia by leaving for the Northern Fleet," Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor of Sevastopol, wrote about him.
Also among the dead are at least nine lieutenant colonels, at least 20 majors and at least 70 junior officers.
The lists of officially recognized losses include dozens of paratroopers (from privates to the commander of the Kostroma regiment of the Airborne Forces) and at least 7 representatives of the GRU special forces.
Among the dead are several OMON officers from different regions of Russia, as well as fighters from elite special forces units of the Russian Guard. Including Sergeant Yevgeny Dudin, who, according to his mother, died during the storming of the Gostomel airport near Kyiv.
PHOTOGRAPHER,FAMILY ARCHIVE FOR BBC
National Guard Sergeant Yevgeny Dudin and his service dog were killed during the storming of the Gostomel airport, his mother Gulnara Valieva reports.
According to the mother, the man served in the operational division named after. Dzerzhinsky, but died on the second day of hostilities along with his service dog (although the date of February 27 is indicated on the death certificate).
The organization of veterans of the special forces "Brotherhood of Maroon Berets" reported on one dead fighter of the Vityaz detachment - Sergeant Mikhail Belyakov from Penza. "Vityaz" is considered one of the strongest divisions of Russia.
On the sixth day of the war, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the loss of almost 500 people, but we don’t know what the further dynamics of losses were, Richard Shirreff, former NATO Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Forces in Europe, notes:
“I think Putin made two more classic mistakes. First, he underestimated his adversary. And second, he overestimated the ability and quality of his own army and his air force. Judging from the information that we see, the Russians now do not have an overwhelming advantages in the air.
During the first month of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the US Army lost 139 people. The losses of the Russian army during the five days of the war with Georgia in 2008 amounted to 71 people. But General Shirreff notes that it is difficult to compare the losses of the parties in various military conflicts, since they rarely take place in comparable conditions.
"If Russia wants to succeed in this campaign, it simply needs to bring its infantry units into the cities and take them under control, and this will mean a significant increase in losses."
The general adds that usually for a successful offensive in cities, the attacking side must have six times as many fighters as the defending side.
PHOTOGRAPHER,ALEXANDER GARMAEV/TASS
Fireworks at the funeral of one of the Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine
In addition, Russia has lost at least eight military pilots (including pilots, navigators and flight mechanics of aircraft and helicopters) - these are piece specialists and the elite of any army. The training of each pilot takes years and costs millions of dollars.
"A front-line aviation pilot of the first class is trained on average for seven to eight years, and the cost of his training is about $ 3.4 million, and the training of a sniper pilot takes 10-12 years and costs $ 7.82 million," he said . 2019 Commander of the Russian Air Force Alexander Zelin.
On March 17, Sergei Volynets, a pilot and commander of an aviation unit, was buried in the Kuban. He participated in the fighting in Georgia and Syria, has awards.
On March 4, the authorities of the Chelyabinsk region reported the death of navigator Rostislav Eremenko. On the same day, Chelyabinsk City Duma deputy Vladimir Kornev published a photo from the farewell ceremony. On the mourning collage, under the image of the An-26 aircraft and the signature "Last Flight", there are 5 more pilots: Captain Anton Pimakhov, Senior Lieutenant Oleg Dolya, Senior Lieutenant Pavel Rusakov, Senior Sergeant Alexander Mizhurko and Sergeant Artem Tarasov. But there are no official reports of their deaths anywhere (the BBC did not take them into account in the calculations).
On March 16, in Syzran, they said goodbye to a military pilot, Lieutenant Sergei Konoplev - he left behind a wife and little daughter.
In the Rostov region, they reported the death of 29-year-old pilot Vyacheslav Maklagin - before being sent to Ukraine, he gained experience in combat missions in Syria. Posthumously, McLagin - like many other soldiers who have died in recent weeks - was awarded the Order of Courage.
The authorities of Dagestan also reported the death in Ukraine of the captain, senior pilot Rabazan Radzhabov. In the Samara region, the death of the regiment commander, pilot Ruslan Rudnev was confirmed. And in the Bryansk region they said goodbye to Alexei Khasanov, a pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
PHOTOGRAPHER,ALEXANDER GARMAEV/TASS
Some of the dead are buried in closed zinc coffins. So they said goodbye to senior lieutenant Tsyren Baldanov in the village of Ust-Kyakhta.
The youngest Russian soldier who died in Ukraine was 18-year-old Yegor Melnikov - he did not live one day before his 19th birthday. Melnikov died on the first day of the war - 24 February. The governor of the region, Vasily Orlov, said that the deceased was posthumously presented with a state award for courage. The father of the deceased, Eduard Melnikov, wrote on Instagram: "This is my son Yegor! Yegor Eduardovich! I'm proud! I'm not ashamed." Now the post is not available, but Regnum managed to make a screenshot.
The Russian army also lost at least six 19-year-old men.
So, on March 10, Dmitry Belousov was buried. He would have turned 20 in April. The man signed a contract to serve in a marine brigade less than two months before the start of hostilities in Ukraine. Prior to that, he studied at the university with a degree in maintenance and repair of motor vehicles.
On March 14, in Orel, they said goodbye to 19-year-old Yegor Kanatnikov, and on March 18, the death of 19-year-old Ivan Kolmogorov was announced in the Perm Territory.
From a BBC study, we can conclude that "cargo 200" came to at least 70 regions of Russia. In total, there are 83 subjects of the federation in the country, not counting the annexed Crimea and Sevastopol.
Servicemen from the Russian-annexed Crimea also took part in the hostilities in Ukraine - the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, has repeatedly published information about the dead. So, on March 9, Junior Sergeant Alexei Sevostyanov and Private Vladimir Nikolenko were buried in the city - both were born and raised in Sevastopol.
The regions of Russia have different attitudes towards the publication of information about the dead. For example, in Dagestan and North Ossetia, 77 deaths have already been officially reported (in total). Representatives of district administrations personally come to every funeral.
In 15 Russian regions, there was not a single report of the death of the military from officials. But, for example, in one of these regions - in the Kemerovo region - the BBC was able to confirm reports of the funeral of 7 Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine.
In some regions of Russia, the media that reported the death of the Russian military began to remove publications. Sometimes it happens in a day or two, sometimes within an hour.
One of the Siberian journalists told the BBC: “At the level of the regional government, all publications were instructed not to publish data on losses in the special operation. a way to perpetuate their memory."
PHOTOGRAPHER,STANISLAV KRASILNIKOV/TASS
Lugansk region. Varvarovka village. Local residents at the temple.
At the moment, the name of one deceased man is known, whom relatives call a conscript. This is a native of the village of Ozernoye, Saratov Region, Maxim Khanygin.
Local media wrote that on March 5, they said goodbye to Khanygin in his native village. "Atkarskaya Gazeta" published photos from the farewell: they show the military carrying a wreath and a portrait of Khanygin, along with his Order of Courage, received posthumously. But the photographs do not show any grave or coffin.
Radio Azatlyk (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) publishes completely different pictures from the scene of the events: the photographs show that a grave was dug in the cemetery, over which a plastic film was stretched. Nobody is buried in the grave.
Khanygin's grandmother told the publication that the family received the funeral on February 25, but she does not know when exactly the body will be brought. The article claims that Khanygin was a conscript.
The mother of another deceased Russian soldier, Pavel Pozanen, told the Bumaga publication that her son was illegally signed up for contract service before being sent to Ukraine. "Everything is very complicated," said Natalya Pozanen, without specifying the details. "He was illegally signed to a contract."
Pavel Pozanen graduated from high school in 2017, received a diploma of secondary vocational education in mid-2021, after which he went to serve.
Relatives and friends of the dead Russian military rarely publicly express their attitude to what is called in Russia "special operation in Ukraine."
PHOTOGRAPHER,EGOR ALEEV/TASS
The mother of the captured Russian soldier Valery Zaluzhny previously told the BBC that she "does not know why all this is needed at all": "I do not understand any war or any military actions."
Another mother of a captured military man, Irina Ochirova, having found her son on a video with prisoners, went to the picket with a banner "No to war."
Gulnara Valieva, the mother of the deceased commando Yevgeny Dudin, told the BBC that her son told her at the end of January that he was being sent "on a business trip for three months" - allegedly for exercises.
“I thought: what teachings? And it slowly dawns on me, I ask him: “Zhen, so you are going to Ukraine?” He answers: “What Ukraine, mom? I'm going to Smolensk for exercises."
Valieva believes in two things: that Russia was "literally a day" ahead of the attack on its territory, and that Russia is conducting only pinpoint shelling - strikes at military targets. And that's what makes a woman angry.
“I already hate everyone. They say that there are civilians there, our guys can’t shoot at them. But they fired at Zhenya from Kyiv, from civilians. Why can they shoot, but our guys can’t? And now I’m talking : so bomb civilians too, so at least our guys will remain alive to some extent.
On Sunday, the UN reported that at least 902 civilians died in Ukraine at the end of February alone, 75 of them were children. Most of the civilians are killed as a result of being hit by wide-range projectiles.
The real number of victims, they say in the UN, is much higher - until independent experts can calculate all the losses.
BBC investigation reveals confirmed Russian military deaths
Olga Ivshina and Olga Prosvirova
BBC News Russian
Family archive for BBC
Copyright: Family archive for BBC
Sgt Yevgeny Dudin of the Russian National Guard died in the battle for Hostomel airport, his mother saidImage caption: Sgt Yevgeny Dudin of the Russian National Guard died in the battle for Hostomel airport, his mother said
Reports of Russian troop deaths in the invasion vary wildly.
Ukrainian military sources say that so far as many as 15,000 have been killed, though this figure may include injured as well as dead. US intelligence suggests half that number may have died.
Russia's defence ministry has released casualty figures only once. On 2 March it said 498 servicemen had died, and has reported nothing since then.
But now our colleagues at BBC Russian have created a list of 557 confirmed Russian fatalities.
It has been compiled only from reports containing specific information about an individual's death, including name and rank.
These names have generally come from announcements by officials or media from each serviceman's local area, or by educational establishments where they previously studied.
The list includes one major-general, seven colonels, one naval captain first rank, nine lieutenant-colonels, 20 majors and 70 junior officers. The rest are non-commissioned officers or privates.
"Cargo 200". How many Russian soldiers have already died in Ukraine
March 21, 2022
PHOTOGRAPHER,EGOR ALEEV/TASS
The funeral of the sergeant of the Russian army Ilnur Sibgatullin in Nizhnekamsk was held with the participation of the guard of honor
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not reported the losses of the Russian army in Ukraine for 18 days. Based on open sources, the BBC Russian Service found out that the names of 557 dead Russian soldiers have already been confirmed.
March 2 - for the first and only time - the Ministry of Defense reported on those killed in the war in Ukraine. At that time, the Ministry of Defense claimed , 498 soldiers had died. Since then, there have been no new reports of losses from the Russian department.
Hundreds dead
Ukraine currently estimates Russian losses at 15 thousand people - once the Ukrainian agency UNIAN clarified that this figure could include not only the dead, but also the wounded.The American newspaper The New York Times, citing "conservative estimates" of American intelligence, called the figure at seven thousand dead. However, the publication indicates that the data is based on the analysis of the media, satellite images, photographs of Russian soldiers and Russian equipment that came under fire, so the information may be inaccurate.
In Russia, every day there are more and more names of the dead and photographs from the funeral. Most often, the names are given by the heads of Russian regions, local media or educational institutions where the deceased previously studied. In several cases, close relatives spoke about the dead.
The BBC, based only on reports containing specific information about the deceased, including the full name and rank, has compiled a list of Russian military dead. There are 557 people on this list.
Media reports citing sources about dozens and sometimes hundreds of dead were not taken into account if they did not contain specific information about names and surnames. We also did not take into account reports of deaths of people who are not regular Russian military (that is, those who serve in the units of the self-proclaimed "DNR" and "LNR", as well as employees of the so-called "Wagner PMC").
PHOTOGRAPHER,NAIL FATTAKHOV/TASS
Chelyabinsk. Relatives say goodbye to serviceman Konstantin Glushkov
We quickly, simply and clearly explain what happened, why it is important and what will happen next.
episodes
End of Story Podcast
Although, for example, Radio Liberty (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent), citing sources, reported that at least 130 contract servicemen from Dagestan were killed in Ukraine. In open sources, the BBC found information about 51 dead.
In addition to the 557 confirmed military dead, the BBC has found reports of another 38 Russian military dead in Ukraine, but there is no independent confirmation of these deaths at the moment.
Senator from Tuva Lyudmila Narusova said that at least 96 conscripts were killed in Ukraine: "As a result, out of a company of one hundred people, four remained alive," Narusova said during a discussion of amendments to the Criminal Code, which provide for up to 15 years in prison for spreading fake news about the armed forces.
The senator asked the Department of Defense to confirm this information, but did not receive a response. The Russian authorities have long claimed that there are no Russian conscripts in Ukraine, but a few days later they nevertheless admitted that "several conscript soldiers" were still present in parts of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.
The first name of the Russian soldier who died in Ukraine was named by the head of Dagestan on February 26. In the first days of March, the heads of several other Russian regions announced the names of the dead military. In mid-March, dozens of official reports about the funerals of soldiers and officers in Russian cities and villages began to appear.
The BBC has sent a request to the Ministry of Defense asking for the death toll and is awaiting a response.
Special forces and officers with orders
Among the confirmed dead in Russia is one Major General - Deputy Commander of the 41st Army, 47-year-old Andrei Sukhovetsky. The Russian Defense Ministry clarifies that Sukhovetsky went from platoon commander to chief of staff of the guards air assault unit.Sukhovetsky participated in the Russian military operation in Syria, was awarded two Orders of Courage, the Order of Military Merit and medals. Ukraine believes that four Russian generals have already died, but only Sukhovetsky's death has been officially confirmed.
The list of confirmed losses of the Russian army includes seven colonels: Viktor Isaikin from Mordovia, Sergey Porokhnya from Bashkiria, Dmitry Safronov from Tatarstan, Igor Nikolaev from the Ryazan region, Ruslan Rudnev from the Samara region, Alexander Zakharov from the Nizhny Novgorod region and Sergey Sukharev from the Kostroma region.
Also, the authorities of Sevastopol confirmed the death of captain 1st rank (corresponds to the rank of colonel in the ground forces), deputy commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Andrey Paliy.
"In 1993, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to Ukraine, remained loyal to Russia by leaving for the Northern Fleet," Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor of Sevastopol, wrote about him.
Also among the dead are at least nine lieutenant colonels, at least 20 majors and at least 70 junior officers.
The lists of officially recognized losses include dozens of paratroopers (from privates to the commander of the Kostroma regiment of the Airborne Forces) and at least 7 representatives of the GRU special forces.
Among the dead are several OMON officers from different regions of Russia, as well as fighters from elite special forces units of the Russian Guard. Including Sergeant Yevgeny Dudin, who, according to his mother, died during the storming of the Gostomel airport near Kyiv.
PHOTOGRAPHER,FAMILY ARCHIVE FOR BBC
National Guard Sergeant Yevgeny Dudin and his service dog were killed during the storming of the Gostomel airport, his mother Gulnara Valieva reports.
According to the mother, the man served in the operational division named after. Dzerzhinsky, but died on the second day of hostilities along with his service dog (although the date of February 27 is indicated on the death certificate).
The organization of veterans of the special forces "Brotherhood of Maroon Berets" reported on one dead fighter of the Vityaz detachment - Sergeant Mikhail Belyakov from Penza. "Vityaz" is considered one of the strongest divisions of Russia.
On the sixth day of the war, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the loss of almost 500 people, but we don’t know what the further dynamics of losses were, Richard Shirreff, former NATO Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Forces in Europe, notes:
“I think Putin made two more classic mistakes. First, he underestimated his adversary. And second, he overestimated the ability and quality of his own army and his air force. Judging from the information that we see, the Russians now do not have an overwhelming advantages in the air.
During the first month of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the US Army lost 139 people. The losses of the Russian army during the five days of the war with Georgia in 2008 amounted to 71 people. But General Shirreff notes that it is difficult to compare the losses of the parties in various military conflicts, since they rarely take place in comparable conditions.
"If Russia wants to succeed in this campaign, it simply needs to bring its infantry units into the cities and take them under control, and this will mean a significant increase in losses."
The general adds that usually for a successful offensive in cities, the attacking side must have six times as many fighters as the defending side.
"Army Elite"
PHOTOGRAPHER,ALEXANDER GARMAEV/TASS
Fireworks at the funeral of one of the Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine
In addition, Russia has lost at least eight military pilots (including pilots, navigators and flight mechanics of aircraft and helicopters) - these are piece specialists and the elite of any army. The training of each pilot takes years and costs millions of dollars.
"A front-line aviation pilot of the first class is trained on average for seven to eight years, and the cost of his training is about $ 3.4 million, and the training of a sniper pilot takes 10-12 years and costs $ 7.82 million," he said . 2019 Commander of the Russian Air Force Alexander Zelin.
On March 17, Sergei Volynets, a pilot and commander of an aviation unit, was buried in the Kuban. He participated in the fighting in Georgia and Syria, has awards.
On March 4, the authorities of the Chelyabinsk region reported the death of navigator Rostislav Eremenko. On the same day, Chelyabinsk City Duma deputy Vladimir Kornev published a photo from the farewell ceremony. On the mourning collage, under the image of the An-26 aircraft and the signature "Last Flight", there are 5 more pilots: Captain Anton Pimakhov, Senior Lieutenant Oleg Dolya, Senior Lieutenant Pavel Rusakov, Senior Sergeant Alexander Mizhurko and Sergeant Artem Tarasov. But there are no official reports of their deaths anywhere (the BBC did not take them into account in the calculations).
On March 16, in Syzran, they said goodbye to a military pilot, Lieutenant Sergei Konoplev - he left behind a wife and little daughter.
In the Rostov region, they reported the death of 29-year-old pilot Vyacheslav Maklagin - before being sent to Ukraine, he gained experience in combat missions in Syria. Posthumously, McLagin - like many other soldiers who have died in recent weeks - was awarded the Order of Courage.
The authorities of Dagestan also reported the death in Ukraine of the captain, senior pilot Rabazan Radzhabov. In the Samara region, the death of the regiment commander, pilot Ruslan Rudnev was confirmed. And in the Bryansk region they said goodbye to Alexei Khasanov, a pilot with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
"I'm not ashamed, I'm proud"
PHOTOGRAPHER,ALEXANDER GARMAEV/TASS
Some of the dead are buried in closed zinc coffins. So they said goodbye to senior lieutenant Tsyren Baldanov in the village of Ust-Kyakhta.
The youngest Russian soldier who died in Ukraine was 18-year-old Yegor Melnikov - he did not live one day before his 19th birthday. Melnikov died on the first day of the war - 24 February. The governor of the region, Vasily Orlov, said that the deceased was posthumously presented with a state award for courage. The father of the deceased, Eduard Melnikov, wrote on Instagram: "This is my son Yegor! Yegor Eduardovich! I'm proud! I'm not ashamed." Now the post is not available, but Regnum managed to make a screenshot.
The Russian army also lost at least six 19-year-old men.
So, on March 10, Dmitry Belousov was buried. He would have turned 20 in April. The man signed a contract to serve in a marine brigade less than two months before the start of hostilities in Ukraine. Prior to that, he studied at the university with a degree in maintenance and repair of motor vehicles.
On March 14, in Orel, they said goodbye to 19-year-old Yegor Kanatnikov, and on March 18, the death of 19-year-old Ivan Kolmogorov was announced in the Perm Territory.
From a BBC study, we can conclude that "cargo 200" came to at least 70 regions of Russia. In total, there are 83 subjects of the federation in the country, not counting the annexed Crimea and Sevastopol.
Servicemen from the Russian-annexed Crimea also took part in the hostilities in Ukraine - the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, has repeatedly published information about the dead. So, on March 9, Junior Sergeant Alexei Sevostyanov and Private Vladimir Nikolenko were buried in the city - both were born and raised in Sevastopol.
The regions of Russia have different attitudes towards the publication of information about the dead. For example, in Dagestan and North Ossetia, 77 deaths have already been officially reported (in total). Representatives of district administrations personally come to every funeral.
In 15 Russian regions, there was not a single report of the death of the military from officials. But, for example, in one of these regions - in the Kemerovo region - the BBC was able to confirm reports of the funeral of 7 Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine.
In some regions of Russia, the media that reported the death of the Russian military began to remove publications. Sometimes it happens in a day or two, sometimes within an hour.
One of the Siberian journalists told the BBC: “At the level of the regional government, all publications were instructed not to publish data on losses in the special operation. a way to perpetuate their memory."
"Everything is very difficult"
PHOTOGRAPHER,STANISLAV KRASILNIKOV/TASS
Lugansk region. Varvarovka village. Local residents at the temple.
At the moment, the name of one deceased man is known, whom relatives call a conscript. This is a native of the village of Ozernoye, Saratov Region, Maxim Khanygin.
Local media wrote that on March 5, they said goodbye to Khanygin in his native village. "Atkarskaya Gazeta" published photos from the farewell: they show the military carrying a wreath and a portrait of Khanygin, along with his Order of Courage, received posthumously. But the photographs do not show any grave or coffin.
Radio Azatlyk (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) publishes completely different pictures from the scene of the events: the photographs show that a grave was dug in the cemetery, over which a plastic film was stretched. Nobody is buried in the grave.
Khanygin's grandmother told the publication that the family received the funeral on February 25, but she does not know when exactly the body will be brought. The article claims that Khanygin was a conscript.
The mother of another deceased Russian soldier, Pavel Pozanen, told the Bumaga publication that her son was illegally signed up for contract service before being sent to Ukraine. "Everything is very complicated," said Natalya Pozanen, without specifying the details. "He was illegally signed to a contract."
Pavel Pozanen graduated from high school in 2017, received a diploma of secondary vocational education in mid-2021, after which he went to serve.
Relatives and friends of the dead Russian military rarely publicly express their attitude to what is called in Russia "special operation in Ukraine."
PHOTOGRAPHER,EGOR ALEEV/TASS
The mother of the captured Russian soldier Valery Zaluzhny previously told the BBC that she "does not know why all this is needed at all": "I do not understand any war or any military actions."
Another mother of a captured military man, Irina Ochirova, having found her son on a video with prisoners, went to the picket with a banner "No to war."
Gulnara Valieva, the mother of the deceased commando Yevgeny Dudin, told the BBC that her son told her at the end of January that he was being sent "on a business trip for three months" - allegedly for exercises.
“I thought: what teachings? And it slowly dawns on me, I ask him: “Zhen, so you are going to Ukraine?” He answers: “What Ukraine, mom? I'm going to Smolensk for exercises."
Valieva believes in two things: that Russia was "literally a day" ahead of the attack on its territory, and that Russia is conducting only pinpoint shelling - strikes at military targets. And that's what makes a woman angry.
“I already hate everyone. They say that there are civilians there, our guys can’t shoot at them. But they fired at Zhenya from Kyiv, from civilians. Why can they shoot, but our guys can’t? And now I’m talking : so bomb civilians too, so at least our guys will remain alive to some extent.
On Sunday, the UN reported that at least 902 civilians died in Ukraine at the end of February alone, 75 of them were children. Most of the civilians are killed as a result of being hit by wide-range projectiles.
The real number of victims, they say in the UN, is much higher - until independent experts can calculate all the losses.
