By: Grace Liu

When many Russian men told their families they were going to war in Ukraine, their loved ones cried and begged them not to go. One young man, Yevgeny Chubarin, joined the Russian army, but the 24-year-old was killed the next day. Stories like this are far too common, and many people are dying in the Russia-Ukraine War.

However, exact number of Russian casualties is kept a secret by officials. Journalists that interviewed the relatives of those who died in the war were arrested. Authorities have also ordered some online memorial pages to be shut down.

According to The Washington Post, “The Kremlin’s priority has been to prevent angry voices of mourning families and antiwar activists from coming together and gaining traction. Information about war dead could deter Russia’s increasingly urgent recruitment effort.”

Many families are afraid to speak out and media reports leave them only with estimates. The independent Russian outlet Mediazona and BBC News Russia counted 5,185 deaths as of July 29, with the greatest losses in remote and impoverished areas.

However, the CIA and MI6 estimate that at least 15,000 Russians have been killed since their country’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, losses equivalent to the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

Chubarin’s death is a reflection of the Russian military’s desperation. He signed a three-month contract and was too excited to ask how much he would be paid. His mother thinks it was because he wanted to prove himself as a man.

“He knew it was dangerous,” she said in a recent interview. He left on May 11, sending cheerful messages and videos after he arrived in Belgorod in southern Russia.

He had little training in his four days there, and then he made a rushed call home. He was issued a gun and sent to war. He then died a day later near Mariupol.

Every day, there are bodies buried in Russia. Many grieving families of fallen soldiers want to speak out but are too afraid of horrific consequences.

Link to Article: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1659882392257x399619285853577400/Russian%20families%20grieve%20war%20deaths%20as%20Kremlin%20conceals%20the%20true%20toll%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf