Relatives of former Russian prisoners who were recruited by Russia for the war against Ukraine have been searching for their missing husbands and fathers for almost a year. The state does not help them in any way.
Relatives of missing Russian occupiers appeal to Putin
Wives and mothers of the Russian occupiers have recorded another video demands to dictator Vladimir Putin.
Where have our children, brothers, husbands gone? We don't know what happened to them, we don't know who to look to for an answer," relatives of the occupying fighters from Storm Z say in Kaluga.
In the video, relatives of prisoners recruited by the Ministry of Defence for the war with Ukraine complain that they cannot find out where to look for their missing husbands.
The unit replies that they have been missing since 30 June, although they were on combat missions in July. We don't know what happened to them, where they went, who to ask. Funds have been set up, but they cannot help. We need people whom we can ask and who can give us a clear answer. We are floundering in this swamp, and there is no result.
Former members of the occupation forces also stated that they were not receiving proper benefits because they were allegedly volunteers. Their mothers and wives added that they could not receive payments and documentary evidence that their loved ones had participated in the war with Ukraine.
We need the help of adequate lawyers and the military prosecutor's office to deal with the missing, with the dead, and to resolve the issue of the status of servicemen.
Earlier, ex-fighters of the Storm Z and Wagner PMCs from the Tyumen region complained about similar problems. They stated that "upon returning to civilian life, they faced bureaucracy and misunderstanding": none of them received a combat veteran's certificate or payments for serious injuries. Before that, a similar appeal was recorded by ex-fighter Storm Z from Bashkiria.
Mothers and wives of Russian military personnel put forward a demand to Putin
According to the council's organiser, Olga Tsukanova, she recorded a video message to the Russian dictator after it became known that he would hold a meeting with the mothers of military personnel.
What is important to understand is that none of the representatives of the Council of Mothers and Wives were invited to this meeting.
The Council of Mothers and Wives has been in Moscow for three days now... We are trying by all means to call on the authorities to engage in dialogue... What do we see today? That Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is planning to meet with mothers on 27 November. From my experience, I can tell you exactly what kind of meeting it will be: mothers will ask the right questions, which will be agreed upon and verified in advance, and no unauthorised person will be able to attend the meeting or ask questions. No matter how hard we tried, we failed... "Vladimir Vladimirovich, are you a man or what?" the organiser of the Council of Mothers and Wives addressed the Russian president.
Tsukanov was also asked by the Kremlin leader whether he would have the courage to meet face-to-face, openly, not with the agreed-upon pocket women, mothers, but with real women who had come to Moscow from different cities at their own expense.
