More than a hundred Russian families wrote an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding that their relatives who went to war in Ukraine be found and included in the list of prisoners of war. Now they are listed as missing, and therefore no work is being done on the search, relatives write. This was reported by Sever.Realii, the publication has a copy of the letter at its disposal. The authors of the appeal write that in response to requests for at least some information about their relatives, they receive various replies and information: some ministries and departments say that relatives are alive, others that they are missing or dead.
“The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has been blocking a change in the status of military personnel for more than five months, regardless of their constantly changing information. Relatives have to look for facts and prove for themselves that their son, husband is in captivity (died), – this is the case throughout the country. The authorized bodies are doing their job poorly, there is no help from the commanders of military units,” the letter says. It was signed by 106 people – one signature each from families who cannot find relatives.
The journalists of the publication spoke with some of the signatories of the letter. One of the authors of the letter is Anna Danilova, who wants to return her 47-year-old husband Alexander. She said that her husband, when leaving, said that he was going on a business trip to the exercises. On April 3, the Ukrainian side reported that he had been killed. In the unit, she was immediately told that her husband was alive, and the next day – that he had burned down and there was nothing to take away. At the same time, the Ukrainian military now say he is alive and promise to show the video. Against the background of what is happening, Anna had a microstroke, she says, stuttering.
The increasingly vocal voice of military relatives, who, despite fear of reprisals, have finally started demanding answers, may influence the Kremlin's policy, said political analyst Abbas Gallyamov.
“Any public pressure, having reached a certain strength, can change the plans of the Kremlin,” the political scientist said in a conversation with The Insider. – The authorities understand that protest moods are growing and it is not in their interests to provoke the strengthening of the latter, therefore, after dissatisfaction on a specific issue exceeds the acceptable threshold, they stop ignoring the dissatisfied and begin to maneuver. In many cases, from Golunov to Shiyes, they are retreating. So everything is in the hands of the citizens themselves; it all depends on whether they can join forces and make a name for themselves.”