This is not mine

The Rostov morgue every day accepts hundreds of soldiers who died in Ukraine. There are so many bodies that they are lost and confused

The bodies of most Russian military who died in the war in Ukraine fall into the morgue at the Rostov-on-Don military-clinical hospital. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia to Ukraine, even according to the most careful estimates , several tens of thousands of Russian military have died-and due to overload in the morgue, confusion often occurs. "Cold" tells the stories of relatives who are looking for the bodies of their loved ones.

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In July 2023, Alena Arefieva (the surname was changed at the request of the heroine) came to the Rostov-on-Don morgue for identifying her husband's body.

“Igor went there [to war] as a volunteer,” says Alena. - He was a patriot and decided to earn part -time. He was never afraid to take risks, in general he was not afraid of almost anything. ”

The Arefievs lived in the Volga region, in a city with a population of 200 thousand people. Igor worked as a driver. According to Alena, the family did not need money, but the husband still decided to fight in Ukraine. “Of course, we tried to dissuade the whole family, but it is useless: if he decided, he can’t convince him anymore,” says Alena. “Over time, I just trusted him and tried not to think about the bad.”

In winter, Igor stopped in touch. At first, Alena explained this by the fact that heavy battles were underway, but then she began to suspect that he could die.

“The earth has gone from under the feet,” Alena recalls. -Yes, of course, it was worth expecting, war is a war, but all this time I had some kind of illogical faith that everything will be fine, that my husband will cope with everything there for a short time. And here is reality. "

Through the colleagues of Igor, Alena found out that he was in a hospital with a severe contusion after fighting near Ugled and had died a few days later, without regaining consciousness. Death was testified in the morgue at the hospital - this is the last place where Igor’s body was for sure. Where he was sent further, Alena does not know. The district military commissar handed her a notice of the death of her husband, with the help of which she received a certificate of death, but could not bury Igor: the body simply disappeared, lost among thousands of other bodies.

In the summer, Alena came a letter that Igor was identified by DNA in the morgue of Rostov-on-Don.

A body that is not

Alena could not get through to the morgue for a long time, and when they finally managed to contact him, the employees began to discourage her to come to identification.

“Why do you need excess stress,” Alena recalls the words of forensic experts, “you will have a heart attack there, we’ll pump you out” - well, all that. I know, not a delicate flower, I'm not 20 years old. I said: “Let me solve it myself, I want a heart attack or not.” Apparently, they realized that I would not leave, and said what documents to take with me. ”

Alena says that she was not very worried about the trip to the morgue. “Of course, I understood where I was going,” she says. - I was a little afraid to see the dead bodies or that I might become bad. But I thought little about it: I had all my thoughts about making sure that this is my husband. ”

Before going down to the storage, it was necessary to talk with a psychologist and go through the recognition from the photographs. “The psychologist was the first to communicate: we talked quite quickly, made sure that I would withstand the appearance of the bodies. Then they led to the office, ”says Alena. - Already in the office I felt uneasy: such a room, several computers, several people simultaneously watch photos with different investigators. You are met by three: a forensic expert, investigator and, as I understand it, someone from the military registration and enlistment office-they do not smile, they say little, and at that moment you finally understand that something serious is happening. ”

First, relatives show photos of the body from different angles, photos of documents and personal belongings - the documents and personal belongings themselves refused to give Alena. She peered for a long time at the photo: Igor was stronger than a thin body on the screen - but Alena was not sure that it was not he: the body could change since she saw her husband for the last time. In the end, she drew attention to the hand: there was no scars on the forearm, which Igor had since childhood when he torn his skin, climbing the roofs of garages. The military commissar replied that after death, the scar could disappear. (The Red Cross attributes scars to special signs by which a person can be identified after death.)

“The main thing, I don’t understand why, why give out such nonsense about the fact that the scars can disappear? What is the point that they will receive from this? They will not give them money for this, they have no interest, ”Alena wonders.

“All three [forensic expert, investigator and military] began to convince me that I was mistaken and this is definitely Igor,” says Alena. - The forensic expert, however, almost did not say, mainly the investigator was seating. At first they spoke politely, then they began to raise their voice and be annoyed. Okay, I'm not frightened, but I imagine: other women who are grief, do not think, come, and then three begin to crush one by one. At some point, they told me: “Do not recognize this [deceased]-there will still be no other.” I asked: "What do you mean?" - To which they answered me that there was no need to distort, they say, they did not mean that. But I perfectly understood them. ”

Judicial forensic expert Viktor Kozylbaev notes that the relativesof the dead are in a state of shock may be mistaken when identifying. “With posthumous processes, the face and body of a person are modified,” says Kobzylaev, “bluish, puffiness may appear. Because of this, relatives can say that they were given a stranger instead of them. ”

On the other hand, Kozylbaev notes that in isolated cases, the morgues by mistake are mistaken for relatives of other people's bodies. “This happens with the unfair performance of their duties by employees who deliver the dead to the morgue,” Kozylbaev explains. -Suppose when many bodies are transported, and for some reason the identifying tag [which is assigned to the body when entering the morgue] flies. Therefore, an examination is needed by a person who was personally familiar and can identify the deceased. ”

Alena did not succumb to the convictions of the Morge’s employees and did not believe that she was shown the body of Igor. She is not so the only one: more and more relatives of the dead military doubt that the Rostov morgue gave them the bodies of their loved ones.

"I hope that he is alive"

In January 2023, the body of the husband Maria Elistratova (the surname was changed at the request of the heroine) Vladimir, who was also identified in the morgue of Rostov-on-Don, was brought to his native Minusinsk.

According to Maria, the husband was not eager for the front, but he was not going to hide either, ”he said that he would go if they would call. Vladimir had combat experience - in the Chechen war - therefore, he was mobilized by one of the first, September 26, 2022.

Maria was worried, but resigned to: she could not convince her husband to go to the military commissariat, besides, she was afraid that if Vladimir nevertheless changed his mind, he could get a term for evasion. In January, the Minusinsk military registration and enlistment office told Mary that Vladimir died near Severodonetsk.

“I asked to show some kind of confirmation, asked if they have DNA results,” Maria recalls. - I was told that DNA was not carried out. They didn’t explain in any way: they just said that there could be no mistakes. ”

Maria called the military morgue in Rostov-on-Don, she wanted to come for recognition. But, according to her, he was delayed all the time, explaining this by loading the morgue employees.

“And in general they said that this is not necessary: ​​they are sure that my husband is there,” adds Maria. -When I asked why they were sure-I really wanted to hear the answer, maybe they found a token or something else,-at the other end of the wires they began to get annoyed, they said that they had thousands of them and we all fools them, supposedly because of grief we did not want to recognize the obvious. Of course, every woman will believe to the last, even if there are irrefutable evidence. But I have no evidence at all, and, it seems to me, I have the right to doubt. ”

“DNA is not required in all cases. DNA analysis is carried out if the body cannot be identified by external signs, ”explains Viktor Kozylbaev. - For example, the body is very disfigured or a fragment is too small from it. If DNA was not carried out, the body should have been identified visually. When it is impossible to identify the deceased soldier visually, by decision of the commander of the military unit, a special commission is created, which includes those who personally knew the soldier. ”

Maria said that it was impossible to conduct an identification: they referred to the fact that the coffin is “completely stolen” and it cannot be opened. Before sending Vladimir’s body to the Krasnoyarsk region, Maria called the city military commissariat to clarify the details, and again reminded: the coffin is sealed and it is impossible to open it.

We are talking about the very “zinc” - hermetic coffins of galvanized steel, in which the bodies of the military are transported. Such transportation slows down the decomposition of the corpse. Zinc coffins are used for transportation at a distance of more than a thousand kilometers and to transport severely damaged bodies. Sometimes such a coffin is really not subject to opening - for example, in cases where the body of the deceased is a carrier of infection, in contact with dangerous chemicals or subjected to radiation radiation.

“As a result, I barely asked at least before farewell to see who was lying there, they didn’t allow anything else - neither identify nor see the documents,” recalls Maria. - And they didn’t even give it at first: they again said that there was no way to see even through the window, because it was fotting! I already started to swear. After five minutes they allowed to look. The glass was absolutely dry, and I theoretically can not imagine how something could have been in the coffin. On the one hand, part of the head was visible, I did not look at the part, because my head was strongly turned on its side. ”

The funeral took place on January 31. But Maria is still not sure that she buried her husband. “Maybe there is [in the coffin] the truth is he,” says Maria, “but no one recognized him by DNA, there were no relatives for identification, and they have already brought someone's body. In this regard, there is a bunch of questions and doubts. The coffin was much already and shorter than the size of the husband, and, as the familiar doctors told me, he could not “dry out”. The colleagues say that he was gone, but none of his company saw the wounded or dead husband. ”

Victor Kozylbaev also assumes that over such a short period of time, the body could hardly decrease in size. “On the other hand, perhaps the body is not entirely there - for example, not all limbs have been preserved,” Kozylbaev adds.

Maria has not yet been able to achieve details about Vladimir’s death from the state-she still has not returned her husband and SIM card documents, although more than six months have passed since the funeral. But she continues to search.

“I went to the military unit, to the Ministry of Defense - there is silence everywhere,“ there are no data. ” The military enlistment office is hinting that I am too persistent, ”says Maria. “I'm looking for the truth now.” I really hope that my Volodya is alive! ”

"Confidential information"

When the husband of the resident of the Novgorod region Inna Saidova - Makhach - died near Soledar, Inna was looking for him for three and a half months.

“On September 3 [2022] we called the last time,” says Inna. - I hear cries against the backdrop, he is in my phone: “Everything is in order, I will call you back.” I waited several days, I didn’t want to distract: apparently, there was a battle, he had no opportunity to talk on the phone for a long time. On September 7, I suspected that something was wrong. My husband did not call me, I myself could not contact him either. She began to call his colleagues. On September 18, the commander of the telephone unit said that he was in the hospital. Two days later they called me and reported that Mahach was dead near Soledar. ”

At the same time, the Ministry of Defense did not recognize his death. Inna wrote three letters to the military unit and received no answer to any. Since Makhach went to Ukraine through the Chechen division Akhmat, Inna personally wrote to Ramzan Kadyrov twice - also to no avail. In the apparatus of the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Inna request was redirected to the Ministry of Defense, and from there she was called only two months later, on November 20, and read out a template statement: “He performs military duty - in the lists of the dead, prisoners or wounded is not listed.”

“I tell them:“ I am 15 people who serve with him, state the fact of death, ”Inna recalls. “I exaggerated, of course, but I really confirmed my death.” And to me in response: “I believe in the document that came, and not your words.” Soon after this call, I received a letter from the Ministry of Defense: “We are making every effort to find your husband. Here is the phone, if you need psychological help.” The military prosecutor’s office also “reveals the whereabouts”. ”

On December 12, Inna called the cousins ​​of Makhach Saidov from Dagestan. It turned out that they were also looking for a Mahach-and found him in the morgue at the Rostov-on-Don military hospital. The next day, Inna contacted the morgue: it turned out that the body was already being prepared for transportation to Dagestan to the Makhach brothers.

“I was in shock: what kind of sending the body is being prepared for, why so fast,” Inna recalls. - Why didn’t they call a wife for identification, why didn’t they call? How was the body gave to distant relatives? I began to ask the morgue what happened to my husband. I was told that the examination was carried out on fingerprints: supposedly the body was well preserved - this is in three months! ” When asked when and in what condition the body entered them, they answered briefly in the morgue: “Confidential information”.

Inna later asked the Morg to send her a photo of the corpse and personal belongings of the deceased. The morgue replied that only a representative of the military unit can give this information. Inna still cannot contact him - they simply do not pick up the phone. One of the employees of the morgue “Secret” told Inna that the investigator did not give permission to send a photo. Inna never saw the body.

“I talked with my husband’s brothers, and we decided to bury him in Dagestan,” Inna says. “I would still not have time to come to Rostov before.” Later, the brothers said that when washing (the ritual of washing the deceased in Islam), they found a scar on the leg, allegedly confirming that they were a Mahach. Inna doubts this: “Is the corpse in such a good condition after three and a half months that the scar is visible?”

Answering a question about the state of bodies after death, Viktor Kozylbaev notes that the scar could well have been preserved. But it often depends on what path the body has passed before.

The process that is delayed

The path of the body to Russia depends on where a person died - in the territory controlled by Ukraine or in the territories occupied by the Russian military. If the place where the deceased was found, the Ukrainian military is controlled, the bodies are exhumed and delivered to the morgue, where the forensic expert is a conclusion: it also indicates the name, if it can be established, and the features by which the body can be identified. Further bodies in the refrigerators go to Kyiv, from where they are directed to the border for exchange.

In Ukraine, the Ministry of Reintegration of temporarily occupied territories is responsible for the exchange of bodies. On the Russian side, the Ministry of Defense is engaged in the exchange. The Red Cross acts as an intermediary. The information is extremely small: negotiations on the exchange are kept secret, and that the parties exchanged bodies become known after the exchange took place. Sometimes the bodies are unofficial: the commanders are negotiating about this after the battle. Such exchanges occur on the front line - volunteers help in this.

And the Ukrainian and Russian media write that Russia does not take a soldier from Ukrainian morgues and even from the battlefield for a long time.

If a soldier died in the territory occupied by the Russian troops, and he can be taken from the place of death - that is, fights are not going on in this place - colleagues report death in Medrot, and doctors evacuate the body. The bodies are delivered to the nearest morgues in the territories occupied by Russia, from where they are usually taken to Rostov-on-Don. If a person dies in a field hospital, his body is transferred to the morgue at the hospital, and from there it is sent to Russia. Sometimes this process is delayed. Lost time can further complicate the identification of the body.

“The remains of bodies that are difficult to identify could be stored in improper conditions before entering the morgue,” explains the forensic expert Viktor Kozylbaev, “perhaps they lay in the summer in the heat. In general, the bodies that were in the ground or water for a long time are easier to identify than the bodies that were in the open air: in the air, decay develops faster. ” Strong damage to the body after injury, according to Kozylbaev, also complicate recognition, especially after exposure to open fire - sometimes after such a body cannot be identified even with the help of DNA examination.

If the state of the body allows, the easiest way to identify a person according to visible signs : for example, scars, tattoos or moles. “Quite clearly can be identified by the teeth,” continues Kozylbaev. “And for examination of DNA, bones, blood, hair, skin are often taken from the body.” This procedure is usually carried out already in the morgue, in the case of those who died in Ukraine, it is usually the same.

The stories of Alena, Maria and Inna converge in one-they all had to communicate with the employees of the Rostov morgue: this is the morgue at the district military hospital No. 1602. Basically, it is here that the bodies of the Russian military who died in Ukraine are brought here.

Rostov morgue

«Ростовский морг огромный, еще с 2014 года информация по нему поступала. Точную его емкость я не назову, но да, он огромный. Туда свозят практически все тела сейчас со всех направлений. Насколько он сейчас переполнен, ответить сложно, но многие родственники погибших солдат сталкиваются с тем, что там тело погибшего не могут найти. Судя по всему, персонал настолько перегружен количеством поступающих тел, что они не могут своевременно вести свою документацию или быстро найти это тело среди полок, стеллажей. Такой некий бардак царит в ростовском морге», — говорил военный эксперт, глава CIT Руслан Левиев в интервью каналу «Популярная политика» в конце апреля 2022 года.

Морг при ростовском окружном военно-клиническом госпитале, находящийся в «Военведе» — микрорайоне для военных и их семей, — известен со времен Чеченской войны. Точнее, Центр приема, обработки и отправки погибших (ЦПООП) №522 на базе госпиталя. Тела российских военных, погибших в Чечне, хранили именно там, а вскрывали и опознавали прямо на улице . По словам сотрудников морга, работавших в ЦПООП в конце 1990-х, на опознание приходили до 50 человек в день.

В то время родные погибших тоже подозревали, что в морге опознали не то тело. Один из таких случаев показан в документальном сериале BBC «Traumazone»: Любовь Тумаева, мать солдата, пропавшего в Чечне, была уверена, что останки ее сына лежат в могиле другого человека — Евгения Венцеля, тоже принимавшего участие в Чеченской войне. Любовь добилась разрешения вскрыть могилу Евгения, несмотря на возражения его матери, но сына Любови Тумаевой там не оказалось. По словам сотрудника морга, многие тела приходили в Ростов в неопознаваемом состоянии: тела пролежали на поле боя несколько недель в 40-градусную жару.

В 2014 году в ростовский морг начали массово поступать тела российских военных с юго-востока Украины. Часть из них была одета в форму ополченцев самопровозглашенных ДНР и ЛНР: до 2015 года Россия не признавала свое участие в войне.

В ростовский морг родственники погибших отправляют ДНК: анализ занимает от трех до шести месяцев. Опознание проводят сами сотрудники морга: при необходимости они вызывают родственников погибшего. Иногда родственники сами, без вызова из морга, приезжают на опознание.

Выйти на ростовский морг родственникам помогают волонтеры: они собирают у родственников информацию о пропавшем человеке, его месте службы и известных обстоятельствах пропажи или гибели, а также просят описать особые приметы. Еще волонтеры могут сопровождать родственников на оккупированные территории Украины, чтобы люди могли самостоятельно узнать о судьбе близких. Оба этих способа оказываются быстрее, чем Минобороны.

Не смотреть по сторонам

После просмотра фотографий у Алены Арефьевой, приехавшей в морг, возникли сомнения, что ей показывают снимки ее мужа. Тогда Алена настояла на опознании. «Снова началась шарманка про то, что я там в обморок упаду», — вспоминает Алена. По ее ощущениям, она спорила со следователем примерно час. В конце концов, патологоанатом и психолог повели ее в хранилище тел. Алене дали вату, смоченную нашатырем, и попросили не смотреть по сторонам. Она все равно поглядывала вокруг: со всех сторон в специальных отсеках лежали тела. Алена рассказывает, что выдержать этот вид было не так сложно, как запах.

«Показали только часть ног и рук, от колена и от локтя, — вспоминает Алена, — я, конечно, сначала действительно растерялась: смотрю, и в голове ни одной мысли. Потом я собралась и начала рассматривать. Показывали тело быстро: откидывали простыню и быстро закрывали. Не показали лицо, челюсть — я читала, что по челюсти можно узнать, хотя, мне кажется, не до конца понимала, что я там конкретно буду искать». Результатов ДНК экспертизы Алена тоже не увидела. А на свидетельство о смерти Игоря, которое она везла с собой, никто даже не взглянул: «Было чувство, что от меня хотят побыстрее отделаться».

Алена Арефьева отказалась признать, что перед ней тело ее мужа. Несмотря на ее возражения, тело, которое ей показывали в морге, начали готовить к отправке. После отъезда из Ростова она начала писать в Минобороны и военкомат. Видимо, ее настойчивость сыграла роль: в какой-то момент в морге признали ошибку — тело действительно не принадлежит Игорю.

Теперь, по словам Алены, Минобороны готовится признать Игоря пропавшим без вести. Ростовский морг отвечает Алене, что пока новых совпадений ДНК в базе нет, а военный госпиталь, где умер Игорь, заявляет, что тело уже выдано в Россию. Минобороны тоже не знает, где находится тело.

«Я знаю, что он погиб, — говорит Алена. — Он заслуживает того, чтобы его похоронить. Мы теряем время, пока тело моего мужа где-то лежит без успокоения».