‘I won’t sign the contract even at gunpoint’: Russian conscript returns home in a zinc-lined coffin

Regular conscription soldier Afanasy Podaev was killed in the shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region border. His parents are now asking one simple question: what for? He did not want to dedicate his life to war, he was planning to return home and become a chef.

Afanasy and his family lived in the village of Karabash, Tyumen region. He completed his lower secondary school studies and enrolled in a culinary school in a nearby town. After he received his diploma, he was conscripted for regular military service.

And even though the local draft officer vowed that the conscript would not be sent to the Ukraine war, Afanasy soon ended up on the Belgorod region’s border with Ukraine. According to the conscription officer, the new recruits were deployed there as part of “counter-terrorism efforts”. Afanasy Podaev was killed by shelling on 30 November.

Afanasy’s parents are now left with his photos and keep asking the same questions: why did their son die and who needs this war? This story offers an insight into how the war is changing Russia from within.