Russian soldier's mother: "It's a bloodbath"

DW Russian soldier's mother: "It's a bloodbath" Oxana Ivanova - 11 hrs ago The 26-year-old Russian contract soldier Yevgeny died in the first days of the war in an attack on the Ukrainian Hostomel airfield near Kyiv. Nevertheless, his mother justifies Russia's actions. On February 24, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine began. However, Vladimir Putin describes it as a "special military operation in Donbass". Russian soldiers also die in this war. Often they and their family members apparently did not know to the last where they would be sent. Since the war began a little over a month ago, the Russian Ministry of Defense has only reported twice about the casualties. According to this, as of March 25, 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed in Ukraine. In reality, however, it could be between 7,000 and 15,000, writes the Washington Post, citing a high-ranking NATO representative. The Russian newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" reported 9,861 deaths on March 20, citing the Defense Ministry, but deleted the article the next day on the grounds that it was a hacker attack. The Russian contract soldier Yevgeny, with the rank of sergeant major, died near Kyiv in the first days of the war. The 26-year-old had never taken part in combat operations. His mother Natalia (not her real name) lost her son - but she still justifies the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, Natalja thinks that this is a real war and not a "special operation". DW has decided to publish an interview with her as a testimony of a mother who lost her son in the Russian-led war against Ukraine. The protagonist of the interview makes statements about the causes of the war that contradict the current state of affairs. But DW decided to leave them in the text. These statements clearly prove the long-term work of Russian state propaganda. DW: Natalya, how are you feeling? Natalja: It's very hard, it hurts a lot. But it's not my fault, no one will give my son back to me. How did Yevgeny become a contract soldier? Immediately after the 2014 exams, he went to the army. He came to a special unit of the GRU military intelligence service. At that time he was offered a contract. Somehow I dissuaded him, after all it meant going to trouble spots. Then he applied to the police and worked for a security service. But he didn't like the job and so he tried that contract after all. He was accepted immediately and we only had one evening to say goodbye. Yevgeny served in the National Guard. He liked it very much and became a group leader. He broke up demonstrations in Moscow. In 2017 he had a son. He knows his wife from the time in the security service. She moved to him in Moscow, where they got married. How did the story of Ukraine begin? It was late January, around the 25th and 26th. My son called and said they were being sent to Smolensk (a city in western Russia, some 80 kilometers from the border with Belarus - ed.) for maneuvers with Belarus. I said to him, "Are you lying to me? What maneuvers?" I researched on the internet and indeed there were maneuvers with Belarus, but they were over. I kept looking and wanted to find out where we are at war. I didn't even think about Ukraine. It wasn't until the next day that I remembered that there was unrest in Ukraine. So you were aware that your son would not be assigned to manoeuvres? Yes. I told Evgeny that I'm not stupid and I don't think he's going to Smolensk. I researched further and realized he was going to Ukraine. Of course I wanted to dissuade him. I said that maybe he won't come back. He replied: "What are you spinning?" He was completely unaware of where he was being sent. Either they were brainwashed enough to think they were going on maneuvers, or he knew and couldn't imagine there would be such a bloodbath there. Probably nobody thought that, not even Putin himself. Did you keep in touch afterwards? He left on February 13th. I jokingly asked him how he liked Smolensk and what there was to eat. He laughed and said everything was fine. The last time he got in touch was on the morning of February 24, when it all started. He said via a friend's WhatsApp: "Mom, the war has begun." I said, "Son, I'm watching this on TV." He said: "Imagine, a whole company of our boys was killed at the border."