"Cut off from their own, are surrounded and defeated." He died with the battalion

On June 14, 2022, in the city of the New Ladoga of the Leningrad Region, the funeral of the 19-year-old contractor Georgy Astakhin was held. He died in the war in Ukraine more than two months ago, but the body was delivered only now. In parting with a soldier, it turned out that the remains of those killed in the war have been being taken to Russia for so long, because there were not enough officers, and in the unit there were only conscripts.

The soldier Georgy Astakhin served in the military unit 02511 in Kamenka, which belongs to the 138th separate motorized rifle brigade. He died on March 29. His battalion was actually completely destroyed: 350 "two hundredths", including the 36-year-old commander-Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Gerasimov. According to official figures, he died on March 8, and he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia, he said goodbye to him the other day in Volgograd. About all this at the farewell ceremony, choking in tears, said young Lieutenant Vladimir Chebotarev .

- When the conflict began, all the decay first in Belgorod. In February, they entered the territory of Ukraine. (George) died in the performance of military duties ... Together with the entire battalion. There are 350 people in the battalion. They were cut off from their own, surrounded and defeated. I hope that in the near future our Supreme Commander -in -Chief Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin will make all measures, the right decisions to prevent the madness that is happening there, ”said Chebotarev during farewell to the recreation center.

Officially, the Russian Ministry of Defense does not report the death of the military from specific units, there was no exception and the situation with the military unit 02511, which is located in the Kamenka of the Leningrad region. We also cannot confirm the information that more than 300 people allegedly died with Astakhin. Official reports of the dead are published by regional administrations, regional governors, or municipal or regional newspapers financed at the expense of the state. Since March 2022, at least three more dead soldiers who served in this part are known: 23-year-old resident of the Saratov region Maksut Seitov , 20-year-old contractor Denis Babushkin from the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 19-year-old Danil Rushshinsky from the Lipetsk region. Since February, in social networks and the media published reports about the funeral of military personnel from the 138th separate motorized rifle brigade: 19-year-old native of Astrakhan Maxim Gridin , Nikita Frolov , from the village of Sernovodsk, Sergeant Konstantin , from Kostroma, Private Kemala Bostanov and from the Leningrad region. The media alsopublished information about prisoners from the military unit 02511, which are located in Ukraine.

The two -story ancient building of the House of Culture is located in the center of the new Ladoga, two hours riding from St. Petersburg. The central square of the city, which is guarded by minesweepers from the time of the Great Patriotic War, is filled with cars and local residents by noon. More than a hundred people came to say goodbye to the military: pensioners with carnations, young people with lush bouquets, retired military in faded form.

Closed coffin by a red cloth and covered with Russian tricolor. It stands in the center of the assembly hall. Sounds the trawl march of Chopin. In a small room with pale yellow walls under the ceiling, a mirror disco chart hangs: most likely, discos pass here at another time.

In addition to Lieutenant Chebotarev, at the farewell ceremony, the military commissar of the Kirishsky district performed. He said that George "fulfilled his military duty to the end, was true to the oath," and the head of the local military-patriotic club called the guy "a real man and a warrior."

In the city center, according to local, there are no places in the cemetery, but the "administration allowed" to bury the deceased contractor here. The territory of the former Nikolo-Medved Monastery was filled with the smell of incense: the local father plunged the warrior, and the procession moved with narrow paths to the grave.

There seems very few places in the old cemetery: relatives and friends of the military are crowded along the black fence, onlookers and representatives of the Ministry of Defense surrounded other graves. Near the fresh pit, the young military with Kalashnikov assault rifles. On command, they give military honors with single shots. A woman dressed in black is based on a fence of a neighboring grave. Next to her is a freshly painted black cross. This is the mother of George Elena Astakhina , she cries all the time. She shudders from each shot.

- When they reported that Gosha was taken away, I was delighted because he always wanted to go into the army. He went on call, and then, apparently, agreed to the contract. He was so correct. Literally the day before yesterday they wrote to me that Gosh died. I was in shock. It is still shaking, ”says Timofei Mikheev, he studied in the same group.

Georgy Astakhin graduated from a school in St. Petersburg, where his mother lives. Then he moved to his father in a new Ladoga. He studied at the Volkhov Polytechnic College at the locksmith of rolling stock. He loved to play football, stood at the gate.

He was drafted into the army in the summer of 2021. He decided to sign the contract without waiting for the completion of the "term" - soldiers who served three months have such a right. So yesterday's graduate of the school or school becomes a professional military with salaries and official housing. The prospect that attracts many young people. According to his relatives Goshi, he decided to become a contractor voluntarily.

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- He had a choice: either served an urgent or sign a contract. We dissuaded him! But he signed. It was his good will, his own decision. This is all according to the law, ” Elena Astakhina confirmed the north. Realiy. She refused further comments.

The sister of the deceased Arina in VKontakte had several posts about her brother. She writes that George "fought for us and gave his life for a peaceful sky over Russia !!!!", calls him a warrior "fell in the fight against Nazism."

Gosha got into the military unit in the village of Kamenka in the Leningrad Region. It was in this part that the parents of the recruits made a scandal when the war in Ukraine began. They complained that their children were forced to sign contracts for military service and sent to the south of Russia. Some mothers managed to return their children back.

Lieutenant Chebotarev smokes one cigarette after another. He personally did not know Astakhin, but since the beginning of summer he was responsible for the transportation of the body of the deceased colleague. I went to identification, waited for DNA tests. In total, 2.5 months passed from death to the funeral. Lighting the next cigarette, the officer complains that there is no one to engage in the transportation of bodies: "There are only conscripts in the unit." He does not hide anger and accuses of the deaths of his colleagues the "modern weapons of the enemy", which "NATO supplied for 8 years." Those who sent the Russian military to Ukraine, he did not name the perpetrators.

19-year-old Georgy Astakhin was awarded the Order of Courage posthumously.

Officially, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported the losses of the Russian army only twice since the beginning of a military conflict in Ukraine. The last time, in March 2022, the military department reported on 1351 dead military. According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the losses of the Russian side exceed 25 thousand people. Journalists of the Russian BBC service and the Mediazons based on open data were able to confirm the death of more than three thousand Russian military. North. Reali is a list of dead military personnel from the regions of the North-West of Russia . In June, Russian courts began to recognize the state secret lists of the dead military personnel, which are made up of journalists based on the messages of officials and administrations.

Since the beginning of the war, a number of media and telegram channels have reported problems with the export of the bodies of the dead. So, in May, Al-Jazira showed a refractor wagon in the Kiev region, where the unclaimed bodies of the Russian military are located. The Russian BBC Russian Service claims that the corpses of the Russian military are brought to the morgue of the Belarusian mozyr. Officially, the Russian authorities did not comment on this information.

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