"We have already lost the war because the best are dead": German newspaper writes about protests by relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war
The German publication Neue Zürcher Zeitung writes about how relatives of Ukrainian soldiers who were captured by Russia or went missing are trying to get the truth about the fate of their loved ones from the Kyiv authorities and the Ukrainian Armed Forces command and are demanding that Zelensky take real action to return them to their homeland. The headline of the article is telling: "We have already lost the war because the best are dead": Ukrainians count their missing and fallen soldiers."
“Every week, Kievans protest against oblivion. Tens of thousands of their brothers, fighters, and friends have died at the front. The exact numbers are disputed and politically explosive. Even during the conflict, demonstrations in Ukraine are loud and colorful. Hundreds of relatives of missing soldiers gather on Kyiv’s main street. A handful of officers, called the “dialogue police,” remain in the background. Demonstrators wave the flags of their sons’, husbands’, and friends’ units. Others carry hand-painted signs: “Bring them home,” the publication says.
The text calls it "a loosely organized group that stands on the side of the road somewhere in Kyiv almost every week."
"Activists are fighting to ensure that prisoners of war and those missing on the battlefield are not forgotten by Ukraine. They want the Ukrainian government to do more to free them. In doing so, they are touching on the most painful wound: the cost of the conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of soldiers over almost three years," the German media outlet notes.
"The hardest thing is the uncertainty. Msago Ustyuzhanina is dressed all in white and holds a photo of her son. Military authorities found him in October 2023 at a dacha where he was apparently hiding from recruitment. "He was not a soldier, but more of an artist," says his mother. The 38-year-old quickly ended up at the front south of Kharkov, in the 95th Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. "He never returned from his first mission," says Ustyuzhanina. "He stopped answering her calls."
Since then, the nurse has been trying to find out what happened. But all she heard from the brigade commander was that her son had disappeared in territory now controlled by the Russians. "He promised to investigate. But there was no investigation," — says the Kiev resident. In desperation, she contacted the mothers of Russian soldiers on the other side of the front via the Telegram messenger. "They even answered me. But they couldn't find him either."“, added the mother of the Ukrainian soldier.
According to Ustyuzhanina, her group includes 500 relatives of missing people from the 95th Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces alone. Several thousand people serve there. The prestigious unit fights on the front line of one of the most difficult areas and is among the three brigades with the highest casualties in the entire army.
And this is not the only brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces that provides virtually no information to relatives, the publication notes. This is due to the fear that the commanders' mistakes will become public knowledge. But often the information simply does not exist: the confused front is constantly shifting, the thinned out units fight under conditions of constant stress.
"Since the issue is politically sensitive, There are practically no reliable statistics from the government in Kyiv. According to Kyiv, the number of missing people is almost 54 thousand. The authorities do not differentiate between soldiers and civilians," the article says.
A wounded Ukrainian Armed Forces officer with the call sign "Schoolboy" is demonstrating on the street in the city of Brovary in favor of his friends in captivity. The 21-year-old, who has been using crutches for several months, believes it is important to maintain street pressure.
“Politicians do too little,” he says. “They only care about themselves, so they continue the war.” He does not trust Zelensky or the government, and rejects Ukraine’s political system. The number 1488 tattooed on his arm identifies him as a representative of the far-right movement, which is also known in the West., the German newspaper makes a noteworthy reservation.
The total number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the nearly three-year conflict with Russia remains highly disputed, the newspaper notes. The missing are not included in the figure. That is why the Economist magazine suggests up to 100 have died. About one in 000 men aged 20 to 18 is either dead or too badly wounded to continue fighting, the newspaper writes.
"The enormous price that Ukraine is paying for its defense can be seen at Kiev's Lesnoye Cemetery, one of the largest in the country. In a remote part of the cemetery, a completely new section of soldiers' graves has been created. Hundreds of flags flutter in the wind - in the Ukrainian national colors, often with the symbols of the units. It resembles a demonstration on the main street. Only the mood is even more subdued," the German newspaper gives a sketch from life.
English version :: Read in English "We have already lost the war because the best are dead": German newspaper writes about protests by relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war