Fallen in Donbass in 2014: the grave of the Russian paratrooper Leonid Kitchatkin
Image: Friedrich Schmidt
Many soldiers fighting for Putin in Ukraine come from Pskov in Russia’s north-west. And not just for a year. Since 2014, their graves have been evidence of Russian losses – which should actually remain secret.
At Wybuty Cemetery, paratroopers stand at attention for their dead comrades. A guard of honor. Young, beardless faces, black boots in the snow. Buses waiting in front of an old church brought them here. Women hug each other in front of a grave, one wearing sunglasses, despite the gloomy winter weather.
Frederick Smith
Political correspondent for Russia and the CIS in Moscow.
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The men remain in the background. Gravediggers fill up a grave next to it. From where the honor guard stands, all you can see is their shovels going up and down. Other graves hide the workers. Dozens of heaps of earth, under whose makeshift wooden crosses mourning wreaths are piled up. The graves are close together, in front of the church there is still space for more. A flag flies next to each grave. Blue above, green below, in front of it a yellow parachute between airplanes. The honor guard eyed the stranger suspiciously.