“I won’t sign the contract even at gunpoint”: Russian conscript returns home in a zinc-lined coffin

Mandatory conscription soldier Afanasy Podaev was killed in the shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region border. His parents are now asking one simple question: what for? He did not want to dedicate his life to war, he was planning to return home and become a chef.
Afanasy and his family lived in the village of Karabash, Tyumen region. He completed his lower secondary school studies and enrolled in a culinary school in a nearby town. After he received his diploma, he was conscripted for regular mandatory military service.
And even though the local draft officer vowed that the conscript would not be sent to the Ukraine war, Afanasy soon ended up on the Belgorod region’s border with Ukraine. According to the conscription officer, the new recruits were deployed there as part of “counter-terrorism efforts”. Afanasy Podaev was killed by shelling on 30 November.
Afanasy’s parents are now left with his photos and keep asking the same questions: why did their son die and who needs this war?
This is a very personal story that offers an insight into how the war is changing Russia from within.
00:00 - The family was waiting for a draftee but got a coffin instead
01:19 - How do people live in real Russia?
02:29 - What was Afanasy Podaev like as a child?
04:15 - An ordinary guy’s path to culinary school and dreams of opening his own cafe
05:01 - What ordinary people think about military service
05:49 - What people in villages think about the Ukraine war
06:48 - “I won’t sign the contract even at gunpoint”
07:41 - What do regular conscripts do in the Belgorod region?
08:20 - What are the living conditions for conscripts like in the Belgorod region?
09:17 - How do authorities notify parents about their children’s deaths in the war?
10:57 - The mother’s reaction to the news of her son’s death
11:38 - What does the father who lost his son feel now?
12:28 - How did Afanasy Podaev die?
13:54 - What was the night before the funeral like for the parents?
14:30 - What does the mother who buried her son want?
15:01 - About accepting yourself and the fact that your son is no longer alive
15:46 - What ideas did Afanasy Podaev die for?
16:15 - What do the people in the village think about the TV broadcasters?
16:53 - Who needs the Ukraine war?
17:10 - Where in Russia can you live well?
17:50 - Who ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
18:38 - Do Russians need the war?
18:56 - Authorities are delaying payments
21:01 - What’s next for Russia?
21:40 - How is the mother who buried her son supporting herself?
22:15 - The mother’s closing appeal
#war #russia #conscription