Even under a thick layer of snow, the cemetery of Russian soldiers is replete with the colors of the flags of the occupation units. The graves are filled with plastic flowers. The other day, a woman named Natalya grabbed brushwood and carefully swept snow from her son's funeral wreaths.. He was one of those who tried to capture the airport in Gostomel. What was left of his body arrived in Ryazan a few weeks later.. Below are excerpts from The New York Times report..

Woman refuses to give her last name for fear of persecution. Many Western opponents of the war expected mothers like Natalya to provoke a wave of outrage against Putin and become a political force opposing him.. But after 10 months of the war, this did not happen..

Natalia said she believed the invasion " “Something had to be done,” she said, referring to the situation in Ukraine..

(Recall that this month alone, Russians like the " The total number of civilian deaths in Ukraine as of February 24 is almost 7,000. Below is a video on Christmas Day in Kherson. Caution, 18+ ).

Only in one cemetery - 20 rows with the graves of "

The number of fresh graves with participants in the Kremlin's war against Ukraine indicates that there are many such relatives as Natalia. There were at least 20 rows with three fresh graves in each row.

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However, according to many accounts, Ryazan, where two military bases are located, proudly sends its people to war, even if some return in body bags..

A 20-minute drive from the cemetery to the city center, another woman, Marina Doronina, also expressed her support for the war. Her 27-year-old son Vadim was called up only a few days after Putin announced the mobilization of several hundred thousand men in late September..

But she said she wasn't mad that he was sent to war. She also did not oppose mobilization at all.. Instead, she said, she was angry at the "

Faith in Putin.

“We need to somehow resolve this situation,” she said, repeating Natalia’s vague statement about Ukraine.. But annoyed at how the local authorities handled her son's mobilization, they expressed faith in Putin:.

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Both women seem to reflect the general trend. A significant number of Russians seem to think the same way.. While many are afraid to speak publicly about the war and often repeat the Kremlin’s narrative, a poll this month by the Levada Center found that more than 70 percent “unconditionally” or “predominantly” support the activities of the Russian army, 64 percent believe that the country is moving in the right direction..

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It should be added that in early December, it was in Ryazan that one of the strongest military strikes on Russian territory since the beginning of the war took place..