The Silent Struggle for Justice: A Familys Quest Amidst Russias Military Chaos

In a post on Instagram dated April 21, a woman named Inna shared a heartbreaking account: “We sent our nephew Aman off to military duty in Ussuriysk in June 2024, and we never saw him again.”

Aman Malyshev, 22 years old, had previously worked as a model in his hometown of Yakutsk before heading to Ussuriysk, located in Russia’s Far East, for the mandatory military training required of all men aged 18 to 30.

“We learned today that he has died in Bryansk,” a region adjacent to the Ukrainian border, Inna revealed. “He didn’t sign any contract and was about to come back home.”

In just a few hours, Inna’s message spread rapidly across her home republic of Sakha (Yakutia), causing significant outrage among the public.

“Why did this happen?! This is clearly not an isolated incident!” commented a user named super_gelena, tagging the official account of Aysen Nikolayev, the head of Sakha.

“No, it’s not the only case. Our nephew, only 18, was also sent [to the border with Ukraine] — he is now considered missing,” replied another user, sannikova121177.

“His parents went [to the combat zone] to search for him and sought at least some information. It’s complete chaos there, with no results. But we still hold out hope and wait,” added sannikova121177.

Malyshev is among at least 173 conscripts who have lost their lives since the onset of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, despite repeated assurances from Moscow that conscripts would not be placed in direct conflict, according to the independent news outlet Vyorstka.

At the beginning of the invasion, many anticipated that the mothers and wives of soldiers like Malyshev would spearhead anti-war and anti-regime movements, reminiscent of the protests organized by the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers during the 1990s Chechen War.

Women indeed became a key component of the nationwide anti-mobilization protests in September 2022, including a gathering of 500 people in Sakha, alongside continued demonstrations demanding the return of mobilized soldiers from the front lines.

However, their influence on weakening the regime and its war narrative has been limited. Due to either their mourning or the understanding that openly opposing the war could lead to repression, many prefer to express their sorrow and grievances privately.

“Those military wives and mothers who engage in some form of protest are very careful to frame it as the outcry of a loyal, patriotic group of women,” noted Jenny Mathers, an expert on Russian civil-military relations and a lecturer at Aberystwyth University in Wales.

According to social media, Aman Malyshev’s mother, Anna, who has two younger sons, appears to fit this mold.

“I am immensely thankful to everyone who is helping to spread information about my son. Yet, I want to clarify our stance and ask for respect for our wishes,” Anna Malysheva stated in an Instagram post from April 22.

“I don’t want my son’s name to be exploited or for our story to discredit the current government or incite people against the authorities. That is not the purpose of sharing Aman’s story,” she explained.

She expressed a desire for the commander of the military base in Ussuriysk — where her son was ordered to serve — to face consequences for deploying him to a “counterterrorism operation zone,” a term used by the Kremlin for regions experiencing Ukrainian counterattacks.

Anna further accused Aman’s platoon leader of “sending her son and his fellow soldiers to their inevitable deaths” during a drone strike that struck their vehicle.

“I firmly believe that certain individuals are responsible for our situation, and I want their culpability to be acknowledged and for them to receive appropriate punishment,” she stated.

In an Instagram Story, which has since been removed, Anna mentioned she had originally posted in response to being approached by “a foreign agent journalist.”

“She presents herself as someone trying to assist the state in unraveling the puzzle of who is responsible [for her son’s death],” Mathers commented to The Moscow Times.

According to Mathers, Malysheva’s conduct aligns with that of other women and military families who criticize the state but are cautious to distance themselves from activist groups like Feminist Anti-War Resistance, which actively opposes Putin’s regime.

While this form of “patriotic dissent” may appear perplexing to some, Mathers suggests that it has effectively pressured the state to alter its engagement with conscripts in active combat.

The relatively low number of conscripts killed in the conflict, compared to overall Russian military losses, supports this notion.

“I do not anticipate it will topple the regime immediately. But it provides a means to hold the state accountable in a modest manner, rather than through grand, dramatic actions,” Mathers stated.

“They are employing a strategy similar to what Navalny has done, but in a different manner — utilizing the state’s own laws and commitments to … hold it accountable,” she added.

Whether this approach will yield results in the specific case of Aman Malyshev remains uncertain.

More than two weeks posthumously, the young conscript’s remains were returned to Yakutsk and interred on May 11.

Sakha officials have yet to make any public remarks regarding his death.

“My condolences. I hope that by the time your younger ones go to the military, this turmoil will be over,” a user named tustuk_uibaan commented under Anna Malysheva’s post, referencing her deceased son’s younger brothers.

“Turns out that if one brother dies while serving, the others can defer their draft,” the mother replied.

“Then he saved his younger siblings,” tustuk_uibaan responded.