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“What does it mean to be missing? Is my son dead? Mothers of conscripts from the sunken cruiser Moskva told how they are looking for their children

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Almost every day after the death of the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva, become known the names of the dead or missing sailors - despite the fact that the Russian Defense Ministry reported on the evacuation of the entire crew. Parents of sailors (most often conscripts) write about them on social networks , exchange information and tell reporters about their attempts to find out what happened to their children. Meduza spoke with Tatyana Efremenko and Yulia Tsyvova, who are looking for information about their sons who served on the cruiser. Here's what they said.

Tatiana Efremenko

mother of 19-year-old Nikita Efremenko

My son did military service on the cruiser Moskva. He served from November 2021, after training he was immediately sent to this ship.

My son didn't tell me anything. Once he said that they had exercises and they would go to sea. This was before the hostilities [in Ukraine]. When the news said that the cruiser Moskva took part in hostilities on Snake Island, my son did not even comment on this to me. Didn't say anything. He said: "I'll come home and tell you everything."

When hostilities had just begun, the son did not get in touch for about three weeks, he called on March 10. Then a letter arrived. Nikita wrote that they were at sea and there was no communication.

There was also a line that he changed his mind about remaining under the contract (after military service, he planned to become a contract soldier). But why, he never said.

I also strongly dissuaded him from signing the contract before the end of hostilities in Ukraine. She told him that if he wants to continue serving, then let him go to the police or the National Guard, where it is unlikely that he will be sent to military operations.

The last time he called was on the ninth of April, 58 days remained before the demobilization. Everyone was waiting for him at home, but he just stopped communicating.

I called the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers . They said they don't do things like that. They gave me a number to contact. I didn't even know where I was calling. She said that she was just looking for information about her son. I called all the hospitals in Sevastopol, called the hospital in Moscow.

I asked if there were [wounded soldiers in the hospital] who could not identify themselves. I was told that there were none. Then the connection was simply interrupted, and I could not get through again.

The situation was the same when I called the Sevastopol Ministry of Defense. There I was told that my son was missing. After that - "the subscriber is not available."

Now I don't know what to do. I'll go there myself. I collected all the photos of the guys [missing conscripts, about whom there is information on the Internet], printed and signed today. I will visit all hospitals and do my best. If I don’t find my own, at least I will find someone and help other mothers.

I don’t know what else to do, I can’t sit at home, and no one clearly says anything to me. The commanders all say with one voice that he went missing - and do not say where. Where did he disappear? On the sea? On the land? No one clarifies the situation, no one names the number of wounded and missing, I collected all the photos on the Internet, I wrote to all the groups myself. Now I will try to knock myself.

Julia Tsyvova

mother of 19-year-old Andrei Tsyvov

I can't get any information about my son. No one says anything - everyone is silent. We called both the military registration and enlistment offices and the Ministry of Defense ...

On TV they showed how the sailors were lined up ( on April 16, the Russian Ministry of Defense published a video from the meeting of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Nikolai Evmenov with the sailors of the sunken cruiser Moskva, - approx. Meduza) . Who did they put up there anyway? This still needs to be found out. Our children are not there. I looked at the photos that are posted in groups where they are looking for the missing - there are already more than ten of them.

I live in the village of Lenino in the Crimea. The day after this happened [the attack on the cruiser Moskva], I went to the military unit in Sevastopol. They brought out a list of the missing, there were a lot of people on this sheet, somewhere around 30 people for sure. Nobody showed us any other lists.

I asked them to explain what "missing" means? Is my son dead? They said no, he was simply not in the service and not in the hospital. And where he?

My son was a conscript, there were many other conscripts on this ship. I am sure that there were 200-300 conscripts there ( Meduza has no confirmation of this information ).

They went to the war zone all the time. Nobody asked them anything. They returned for three or four days, then they were sent there again - again for a week and a half.

[But] when I found out that they were being sent to military operations, I did not apply anywhere. My son served on this ship. And I was afraid that he would be tortured there or something. Therefore, we were silent.

According to a Meduza source close to the command of the Black Sea Fleet, 37 crew members of the Moskva are listed as dead; the exact number of missing people is unknown. About a hundred people were injured.

No war. Your Medusa