in Buryatia, the Russian authorities accused of using young people as “cannon fodder”

“The soldiers left without knowing that they were going to war. Once they arrived in Crimea, their papers and their telephones were taken away from them”, says Katia, a young mother who hadn’t heard from her husband Iakov for several weeks. A few months later, the man who had joined the army as a mechanic was sent to Ukraine, supposedly to take part in military training.

“It was by seeing corpses in the streets that they understood what was happening.”

Katya

to “Special Envoy”

Launched into the field without any preparation, according to her, Yakov died just before his 23 years, two months after the launch of the “special operation” in Ukraine. Katia knew almost nothing about the circumstances of her death.

How many Russian soldiers lost their lives in this conflict ? This question today seems to be one of the biggest taboos in Russia. The only official statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense on this subject dates from March 2022, at the start of the war. She reported 1 351 dead. Western intelligence services estimate the losses at at least ten times more, between 15 000 and 50 000 men, according to the latest estimates.

Like Yakov, a large number of these soldiers come from a deprived region of the Russian Far East, where “Special Envoy” carried out this investigation. In the streets of Oulan-Oude, capital of Buryatia, the faces of those who left to fight are displayed on giant panels. Mainly from ancient Mongol tribes, mostly Buddhist, the population has little in common with most Russians, most often Orthodox. But the official propaganda only wants to tell one story : that of heroes who sacrificed themselves for their country.

The reality of this small republic wedged between Lake Baikal and Mongolia is however very different. If the army is the main employer here, it is because the unemployment rate is one of the highest in the Russian Federation. So, becoming a soldier is the assurance of a stable job, and also of a salary twice as high as any local salary…

In a remote village, the “Special Envoy” team was able to film rare images of the burial of a Buryat soldier who fell in Ukraine. She also met a journalist who is carrying out a prohibited investigation : with the help of social networks – i.e. basically from VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook (the latter being now, like Instagram, blocked in Russia) –, Karina tries to count the dead Buryat soldiers since the 24th february. It has already identified 227 deaths of soldiers from the region. For this work, she faces up to fifteen years in prison for “spreading degrading information” about Russia.

Despite the ban, a wind of protest seems to be rising in Buryatia. Ekatarina lost her brother Mikhail only two weeks after the start of the war. The young woman has agreed to receive journalists at her home to denounce what she describes as a scandal. According to her, the Russian authorities use young Buryat soldiers as “Cannon fodder” and exploit the economic desperation of an entire generation.

“It’s hard to believe that in order to defend Russia you have to put half the country in the grave.”

Ekatarina

to “Special Envoy”

Facing the camera, she does not hesitate to question “a cardboard military technique”. As all the families who lost a loved one in this war, that of Mikhail will receive a large sum of money in compensation : 230 000 euros – the price to pay to prevent anger from rising ?

A report by Mikhaïl Bobchinsky, Virginie Vilar and Adrien Bellay, broadcast in “Special Envoy” on 22 September 2022.