Mother of soldier of motorized rifle division deployed in Chechnya reports death of her son and his colleagues near Donetsk

Elena Tumanova, the mother of Anton Tumanov, a 20-year-old soldier, has reported that her son and his colleagues, who were serving at the 18^th Motorized Rifle Brigade deployed in Chechnya, perished near Donetsk in Uktaine. The woman claims that her son was killed on August 13 in the town of Snezhnoe of the Donetsk Region.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 25, Sergey Krivenko and Ella Polyakova, members of the Council under the Russian President on Civil Society Development and Human Rights (known as SPCh), appealed to the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) asking to check the information about the death of nine contractors of the 18^th Motorised Brigade in the firing range in the Rostov Region.

On July 11, soldiers from the military unit where her son was serving found themselves at the Rostov section of the Russian-Ukrainian border, and on August 11, they entered the territory of Ukraine, stated Elena Tumanova with reference to her son's messages.

"One more guy from our region was called to the army together with my son. He then told me that they were informed at their military unit that if they managed to stay in Ukraine for a certain number of days, then they would earn 400,000 roubles," said Elena Tumanova, as quoted on September 1 in the article "They have no other job" at the website of the "Novaya Gazeta".

According to Elena Tumanova, at night of August 12, a convoy of 1200 people entered Ukraine and stopped at the territory of a plant, 15 kilometres from the border. On August 13, according to the mother of the deceased soldier, the convoy was attacked by "BM-21 Grad" rocket launchers. "The guys (his colleagues) said that out of 1200 people, 120 were killed, and other 450 wounded," said Elena Tumanova. The woman states that on August 20, she received a coffin with her son's body and a copy of the death certificate from the Rostov morgue.

On August 29, the Board of the International Organization "Memorial" announced that Russian soldiers were directly involved in the combat operations in the territory of Ukraine and that those Russia's actions fell within the definition of aggression. On August 13, according to Sergey Krivenko and Ella Polyakova, more than one thousand soldiers of the Russian army were sent to the territory of Ukraine. They were informed that they were sent to carry out their combat mission and that those of them who refused would be prosecuted.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.