In her desperate search for answers regarding her son Valentin’s death, Elena even reached out to Vladimir Putin. She wrote to the Russian president demanding an explanation as to why an 18-year-old conscript was involved in combat. Throughout the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin promised that conscripts wouldn’t be sent to war. But in Valentin’s case, the war came to him.
He had been deployed to the Kursk region as part of his military service and stationed on the border. But it was there that Ukrainian forces launched their cross-border incursion in August, and one month later, Valentin was killed after receiving a shrapnel wound to the head.
Valentin’s grave
Russia views Valentin as a hero, but that’s no comfort to Elena. All she has are questions, which she wasn’t afraid to put to Mr. Putin directly.
“Valentin was a few weeks short of his 19th birthday when he died, and nearly a year into his military service. Elena didn’t want him to sign on so soon – head boy at school, he could have deferred conscription until after further study – but she says he was excited to serve and insisted.
Valentin is buried in a cemetery on the outskirts of Rybinsk – a 20-minute bus ride for Elena. There are dozens of military graves there, each one marked with flags. The grave next to Valentin is for a serviceman killed on the same day as him.
It’s rare for anyone to speak openly in Russia about the war because criticizing it can land you in prison. But Elena is determined to prevent other mothers from suffering the same experience. The UK estimates that more than 750,000 Russian troops have either been killed or wounded since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion began.
“We don’t have a life. We don’t understand what is the value of the Motherland. The Motherland took away everything from us,” Elena said.
Source: https://news.sky.com/story/not-afraid-to-write-to-putin-grieving-mother-demands-explanation-after-teenage-conscript-killed-13315965
