Hello!

I'm Maxim Polyakov, the correspondent for the online magazine “7x7”. Yesterday, another letter from the wives and sisters of Russian soldiers deployed in Ukraine appeared online. For several months in a row, these women have been urging Vladimir Putin and the Ministry of Defense to bring back their husbands and brothers, but all they hear are excuses. It's crucial to note that their demand is not to end the war, but to reunite with their relatives. Their frustration is clearly expressed in the obscene opening lines of the letter: “We've been f*cked over, and so will you. [...] We've been punished for our law-abidingness. To maintain the facade of stability for the masses, our men spill their blood, and we pay with our tears and health.”

In this newsletter, I'll share the story of the new informal women's movement in Russia demanding the return of men from the war, why they no longer trust Putin, and what their protest might lead to.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Context

The first instance of a female-led anti-war movement in Soviet history occurred In the late 1980s, as the USSR-Afghanistan war was coming to an end, with women playing a pivotal role in bringing it to a halt. Let me briefly outline the different phases of the emergence of women's movements.

• The first organization, named the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, was formed in 1989. Soon, it became a household name. The committee helped military conflict participants get the treatment, housing, payments, and benefits they were entitled to. Their main victory was ending the mass mobilization into the army, which had been ongoing since 1983. Many newly recruited soldiers were sent to the war in Afghanistan.
• The second peak of activity was in the mid-1990s. Towards the end of 1994, the Chechen Republic declared independence from Russia, leading to the Kremlin launching the “Chechnya campaign,” essentially a Russian-Chechen war. According to official sources, over 4000 Russian soldiers lost their lives, while the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia claimed the real number exceeded 14000. At that time, the leaders of the Russian army provided minimal information to the families of the military. As a result, women went to Chechnya's war zones, searching for their sons and husbands. Sometimes, they paid ransoms to Chechen military forces to secure the release of their loved ones.
• In the early 2000s, the focus of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers and similar organizations shifted towards human rights advocacy. After the wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, they started advising conscripts on securing deferments from the army or substituting military service with alternative civilian options. In such cases, conscripts did not serve in the military but worked in hospitals or retirement homes.
• After the start of the war in Ukraine in 2014, wives, mothers, and sisters of Russian military personnel once again turned to the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers for assistance. Meanwhile, Russian military authorities began pressuring human rights activists not to raise public outcry regarding missing soldiers. 

At the end of 2021, a few months before Russia initiated a full-blown invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) issued an order concerning information, the gathering and dissemination of which could lead to criminal liability. This encompassed virtually all details about the Russian army typically available in public sources, ranging from the number of military personnel in the units to their location. 

Following the publication of this order, one of the largest and respected human rights organizations, Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg, announced that they were discontinuing legal consultations for soldiers and conscripts, because a mere discussion on the military service could lead to criminal charges against its members. 

They now acknowledge that the real reason behind the FSB's order was preparation for the impending war.

New Council of Mothers and Wives

In September 2022, partial mobilization commenced in Russia. The Ministry of Defense revealed its plan: more than 300,000 men were supposed to be sent to war. The military authorities promised to provide new recruits with clothing and uniforms and assured that they would not be sent to the front line immediately, as they lacked combat experience. However, as it soon became evident, none of the promises made by the Ministry of Defense had been fulfilled. 

Just a few days into the mobilization, a new all-Russian entity called Council of Mothers and Wives started its work. It brought together relatives of mobilized servicemen, primarily wives and mothers. It was these women who demanded the Ministry of Defense to provide soldiers with equipment and stop sending “rookies” to the front line.

The movement members gave comments to journalists and criticized the Russian army. In November, they started facing pressure from law enforcers. The authorities demanded that they avoid making a fuss, but the women refused and consequently began to be detained.

On May 26, 2023, the Ministry of Justice labeled the Council of Mothers and Wives as a foreign agent, which is a stigma for any activist in Russia. The head of the Council, Olga Tsukanova, received the same status.. According to Tsukanova, the reason for her getting the label was the repost that appeared in the movement’s Telegram channel. The original post was published by a media outlet that had already been recognized as a foreign agent and that highlighted the complaints of mobilized individuals from the Altai Krai. A couple of months later, the Council of Mothers and Wives had to be disbanded.

The second attempt

In September 2023, women once again came together in a movement they named “Put’ Domoy” (“The Way Home”). Wives, sisters, and mothers of the mobilized directly demanded from Putin and the leadership of the Russian army the return of their relatives, many of whom had been at war for almost a year. The activists emphasized repeatedly that, over the past year, they had exhausted every possibility to bring the men back. They wrote letters to Putin, the prosecutor's office, and the Investigative Committee. They met with officials and politicians and engaged in numerous conversations with military personnel. Regardless of the individuals they approached, their efforts were met with attempts to silence them, either through persuasion or the offer of extra money.

It's crucial to note that these women weren't protesting against the war or Putin. Not all of them altered their stance on the so-called special military operation. They were simply tired of living without their husbands.

In November, women announced a series of rallies in different cities across Russia. At that moment, security forces once again started exerting pressure on the activists, although there were no direct threats. In Novosibirsk, local officials met with the wives of the mobilized individuals, calming them down. The specifics of their agreement are unknown, as journalists were not allowed into the meeting.

It seemed that the activists were once again successfully pacified, and some may have even been intimidated. However, yesterday they published an open letter saying that the Russian authorities had deceived them one more time. According to the authors of the letter, Putin's promises “turned out to mean nothing,” the mobilization was a “terrible mistake,” and the “state turned away from those who were the first to respond to its call for help.”

“They have already given the Motherland so much that it can never be repaid. [...] We offer the Russian world, but what has it turned out to be? It seems we have taken a wrong path. The question is: do we still have a chance to turn back?”, states the appeal.

The creator of the “Put’ Domoy” channel and its regional branches remains unknown.

In lieu of a postscript

In conclusion, I want to clarify one important thing. Russian soldiers in Ukraine are committing war crimes, but not all members of the movement of wives and mothers understand this. Many of them still believe in state propaganda, but this faith is diminishing with each passing day because officials have lied to them numerous times over the past year.

I foresee two possible scenarios for the future of the movement of women related to the mobilized soldiers:

• In the coming weeks, some women may face criminal charges, and others may be labeled as foreign agents. The movement will be crushed.
• The movement may continue for a few more months but will likely be dismantled after the presidential elections in March 2024, as by then, the Kremlin won't need to worry about Vladimir Putin's ratings.

As for positive scenarios for the soldiers’ mothers and wives, I do not see any. 

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