‘The war has to end’
Russian military wives bring their unrelenting demobilisation campaign to the Kremlin
Novaya Gazeta Europe’s video departmentFebruary 8, 12:41

Every Saturday, relatives of reservists drafted to fight in Ukraine gather to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. However, as last Saturday marked 500 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared mobilisation in the country, far more people than usual gathered near the Kremlin to demand their loved ones be allowed to return home.
Topics
More by this author
Demob justice The wives of Russian conscripts who are demanding their husbands returnThe true cost of Russia’s war Why the Kremlin won’t let the families of dead soldiers mourn‘I’d be facing 15 years in prison’ A Russian draftee on his escape from the army, the Russian regime, and hopeMore stories

Breaking the waves
The Kremlin’s latest attempt to quash Telegram echoes the Soviet Union’s war on foreign radio broadcasts

Moscow’s Gulag Museum renamed Museum of Memory and dedicated to ‘genocide of the Soviet people’

Deserting the paper army
How one woman refused to be a cog in Russia’s military machine

Russian journalist jailed over €3 donation to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation

Russian political prisoner dies after suffering heart attack in custody

Two Russian minors given 7-year sentences and massive fines for setting fire to military helicopter

Russia’s State Duma passes law allowing FSB to block individual communications

Russian man who declared himself a ‘foreign agent’ as a joke now faces criminal charges

Analysts say 2025 was deadliest year of war for both Ukrainian and Russian civilians
News
US to let India buy millions of barrels of Russian oil from vessels stranded by Iran war11 hours ago
Hungary seizes €70 million in cash from Ukrainian bank staff as rift with Kyiv worsens13 hours ago
Russia and Ukraine release 500 POWs each in largest prisoner exchange since May15 hours ago
Russia ramps up social media crusade in favour of spyware-loaded ‘super app’17 hours ago
Readers' choice
Most popular articles from the last two weeks

Subjects
Influencer operation
A cohort of pro-Kremlin content creators is shamelessly portraying the Russian occupation of Mariupol in a positive light
Yulia Akhmedova
December 1, 16:13
Subjects
NATO’s next test
The alliance must face down the Russian threat in places where deterrence is most fragile, such as the Suwałki corridor
Agnia Grigas
February 19, 10:40
Articles
New Russia, old problems
How a reclaimed imperial term came to represent something far more than a mere territorial claim for Russian soldiers
Maria Kurbak
March 5, 12:36