In Samara, at a rally in memory of the dead mobilized in Makeevka, the chairman of the so-called "Women's Council of the 2nd Guards Red Banner Combined Arms Army" and, as she calls herself, "the hero's wife" Ekaterina Kolotovkina spoke. She accused the West of destroying the mobilized and called for revenge for the dead from Samara. At the same time, Kolotovkina called the “special military operation” a war.
“We were left with no choice. Neither we nor our husbands wanted war. But the whole west rallied against us. He rallied to destroy us, us and our children. But I assure you: our husbands and sons will not allow this. Today I talked with my husband (Andrey Kolotovkin). He mourns with us. The 44th regiment was not under his command. He is also very hard. You know, for the first time since the beginning of a special military operation, I asked him to avenge the tears of mothers, for inconsolable widows, for orphans, ”said Kolotovkina.
On January 2, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed information about a missile attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the deployment point of mobilized Russians in the city of Makeevka. The attack itself took place on New Year's Eve. The Russian Federation said that more than 60 people were killed.
At the end of October, Kolotovkina, who created the Heroes' Wives project and is the executive director of the Zvezda and Lyra Foundation, which sends humanitarian aid to the front, said in an interview with the Samara portal 63.ru that there are no wives and mothers in her environment who have a negative attitude towards SVO or mobilization. According to her, some women write angry messages on social networks, but this will not help anyone.
“Many wives mobilized have emotions, there are questions “Why?” and why?" We are all living people, and we all tend to doubt. When you are alone with your problems, your husband left, and you are sitting at home alone with your children, huddled in yourself, writing angry messages on the Internet, then you will not help yourself or anyone else. To pull yourself out of despondency, you need to talk, draw strength from each other. For example, over the same cup of tea, it seems to me that it will become easier to talk with wives whose husbands are in the same place, with the wives of the military.”
At the same time, another organization, the Council of Mothers and Wives, began to be persecuted in the Samara region, whose activists criticize the mobilization and the failed tactics of the special operation. Most of the members of the council are relatives of mobilized Russians or conscripts.
Mothers and wives of conscripts talk about numerous violations during mobilization: about sending untrained conscripts and conscripts to the front lines, interruptions in the supply of uniforms and equipment, as well as problems with housing conditions and food.
On November 28, VKontakte, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, blocked the page of the Council of Mothers and Wives. On November 29, it became known that a criminal case was opened against the founder of the council, Olga Tsukanova.
