At Putin campaign HQ, soldier’s wife says bring him home, as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags on
- In a nation where open criticism of the war is banned, Maria Andreyeva asked when her president ‘will issue a decree that my husband has to be home’
- ‘The Ministry of Defence has spent its money, now we need to squeeze everything out of our guys, get the last life out of them? So they come back as stumps?’ she asked
The wife of a Russian soldier delivered an emotional appeal for his return from Ukraine on Saturday at the election headquarters of President Vladimir Putin, a defiant gesture in a country where open criticism of the war is banned.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has issued a decree that my husband has to be there (in Ukraine). I’m interested to know when he will issue a decree that my husband has to be home,” Maria Andreyeva said as campaign workers looked on.
She became involved in a heated exchange with a woman who told her that Russian soldiers in Ukraine were defending the motherland and she should pray for them.
“So what’s next? The Ministry of Defence has spent its money, now we need to squeeze everything out of our guys, get the last life out of them? So that they come back to us just as stumps?” Andreyeva demanded.
“Will they give me the stump? What will I get back? A man without legs, without arms, a sick man? Don’t you know what’s happening there?”
The exchange took place during a visit to Putin’s election base by a small delegation from “The Way Home”, an organisation of soldiers’ wives that is campaigning for their return from the front.
