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It’s not possible for Viktoria to forget about the war in Ukraine these days, even though she lives in a small flat near Moscow.
Her brother was called up to fight by the Russian army, directly from his workplace in the Rostov region, in southwestern Russia on the Sea of Azov.
“He is supposed to be fighting in the Donbas, what a nightmare,” Viktoria says. “I can’t sleep at all.”
The 37-year-old is not only fearful for her brother but also her husband. She and Andrei have a son who is 18 months old. The draft board in the Rostov region, where Andrei is still registered, is already looking for him.
Many other couples in Russia find themselves in a similar situation.
Nationwide, women with small children are sharing their stories on social media or posting complaints in forums of the authorities.
Ukrainians say Russians using ‘disposable soldiers’ as bait in battle
Many of the women don’t know how they will survive if their partner doesn’t return from Ukraine and often wind up spending the last of their savings on gear to protect their husbands in the war.
Demand is soaring for bulletproof vests, for example, but they are hard to get hold of and expensive.
Women describe spending all the money they have to buy backpacks, medicines, thermal underwear and warm socks.
Meanwhile among the men sent to fight, videos circulating on social media show the recruits’ anger. One depicts a group of men, surrounding a speaker who appeals to the authorities to take action so that loans are not called in.
Another video shows a group of men standing near a Russian state railway train, grumbling that there are no marching rations.
A further group is being told by a woman in uniform to take tampons with them to treat bullet wounds. First aid kits are also in short supply.

Some reservists complain they were not even given a helmet or a weapon. “They gave clothes, shoes, a gas mask and a spade,” Alexei tells istories.media, an independent website.
He spent his own money buying a sleeping bag, a sleeping mat and army boots for the winter.
With the sudden surge in demand since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine in September, shops and online outlets selling military and outdoor supplies are all reporting they have run out of stocks.
Ukraine warns of more infrastructure attacks as Kyiv braces for dark winter
Nationwide, unrest has grown to the extent that even governors and members of parliament have started to intervene because of the problems with mobilisation.
Lawmaker Andrei Gurulyov, a member of the Defence Committee, was dismayed to find that 1.5 million sets of personal equipment had disappeared, with no word of explanation as to where.
Putin fired Dmitry Bulgakov, the deputy defence minister responsible for equipping the armed forces, but Gurulyov notes this does not explain “why the draftees are not getting uniforms”.

Governors are now buying their own binoculars and night-vision devices for the draftees, sometimes bypassing the Defence Ministry’s budget.
Leading lawmaker Leonid Sluzki has slammed the situation as a “disgrace”.
Sometimes, soldiers do not even have ammunition or weapons.
Russia fighting sacred battle against Satan, Medvedev says
Moreover, draftees complain that the pay they were promised for fighting – between 100,000 and 300,000 roubles (US$1,622 and US$4,866) depending on the region – is late or never arrives.
While hundreds of thousands have fled Russia to avoid being drafted, many others are resigned to their fate.
Some Russians are determined to fight for Putin’s goals in Ukraine. But many are serving only because they do not see alternatives, either by fleeing or going to prison.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly urged Russian draftees not to sacrifice themselves as “cannon fodder” for Putin, telling them instead they should surrender at the front and go into captivity voluntarily.
On Monday he said that Donetsk region in Ukraine’s east remained the “epicentre” of fighting in the conflict, with hundreds of Russians being killed every day.
The towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka are the focal points of the heaviest fighting in Donetsk region.
Putin ally praises Ukraine’s Zelensky as a ‘strong, confident, nice guy’
For now, many in Russia are simply paralysed by fear, hardly daring to go out on the streets. The authorities say CCTV that is in use in many areas in Russia will now be used to root out conscientious objectors.
In Moscow, the streets, restaurants and fitness clubs are noticeably emptier than before the partial mobilisation, as is public life in general.
Worse still is the growing number of reports of conscripts who barely arrived at the front and have already died.

Even Russian state media responded with horror when it emerged that a senior civil servant working for the Moscow city government had been sent to Ukraine without any combat experience. Alexei Martynov, 28, was called up on September 23 and died on the front line on October 10.
A journalist close to the Kremlin asked Putin at a press conference how that could be, while also pointing to the rising death toll overall.
But Putin did not comment on the men from across Russia who are now returning home in coffins.
Instead, he stressed that 220,000 of the planned 300,000 reservists had already been called up and said tens of thousands have already joined their units at the front.
Conceding that mistakes were made, the Russian president said that the preparatory phases for deployment in the combat zone had to be observed and emphasised again that the conscripts will primarily be deployed to secure the 1,100km front line in Ukraine.
But since it seems unlikely that that front line is going to be secure any time soon, many Russians are convinced further call-ups will follow.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Ukraine war

Putin’s cannon fodder: the Russian recruits dying in Ukraine

Russian reservists attend a ceremony before departing to Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

A priest sprinkles holy water on Russian reservists before their departure to Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

A recruit takes his weapons following an instructor during military training at a firing range in Volgograd region, Russia. Photo: AP

Recruits listen to an instructor showing how to use a rocket launcher during military training. File photo: AP

A Russian recruit and his wife hug outside a military recruitment centre in Volzhskiy, Volgograd region, Russia. File photo: AP

Ukrainians say Russians using ‘disposable soldiers’ as human bait in battle

A Ukrainian soldier holds his assault rifle in the town of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. Photo: AFP

A plume of smoke rises after Russian shelling in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photo: AP

Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photo: AP

Ukraine war: Russia fighting sacred battle against Satan, Medvedev says

A Russian conscript training for war. Photo: dpa

Putin ally Prigozhin praises Ukraine’s Zelensky as a ‘strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy’

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AFP

Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin and Vladimir Putin in 2010. File photo: TNS 

Russia recruiting US-trained Afghan commandos to fight in Ukraine, former generals say

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Afghan special forces fought with the Americans during the two-decade war. File photo: AP

The recruitment comes as President Vladimir Putin pursues a sputtering mobilisation effort of Russians to fight in Ukraine. Photo: AP

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Many Russian reservists drafted to fight in Ukraine are sent to the front line without proper equipment
The first recruits are returning home in coffins, while many in Russia fear further call-ups will follow



Many of the Russian reservists drafted to fight in Ukraine are sent to the front line without proper equipment. The first recruits are now returning home in coffins, while many in Russia fear further call-ups will follow.


Ukraine

Russia

Vladimir Putin

War and conflict

Putin’s cannon fodder: the Russian recruits dying in Ukraine

Many Russian reservists drafted to fight in Ukraine are sent to the front line without proper equipment The first recruits are returning home in coffins, while many in Russia fear further call-ups will follow

Many Russian reservists drafted to fight in Ukraine are sent to the front line without proper equipment

The first recruits are returning home in coffins, while many in Russia fear further call-ups will follow