When Marina hadn't heard from her grandson for more than a week, she started making calls. In his final message to her, he said he was on the Belarus-Ukraine border and would be home soon. But with no news since, she fears the worst.
"I phoned his military unit, they said he hadn't left [Russia]. 'I said - are you joking? He contacted me from Belarus. Do you not know where your soldiers go?' They hung up and didn't talk to me any more."
Ukraine: Mother of Russian soldier asks 'Whose door should I knock on to get my child back?'
Families of Russian soldiers in Ukraine tell the BBC the men had no idea what they were getting into.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Ei helvetti tätä korruptiota. PRKLNikita became a driver in a mechanised infantry division, but his earnings did not translate into a comfortable standard of living. His monthly salary of 18,000 roubles - $240 (£180) before the rouble crashed - was just enough to get by on in rural Russia. And, he told his grandmother, he was expected to pay for uniform and petrol out of that salary. He had free accommodation in barracks but could not bear the freezing conditions - there was no heating or hot water - so had to pay for rent as well, she says.
Russia finally published death toll figures for its combatants in the invasion last week, saying that as of 3 March 498 Russian troops had been killed and a further 1,597 injured. But Ukraine says that more than 11,000 Russian military have been killed, though this cannot be verified.
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