This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/world/europe/capture-of-soldiers-alarms-russians.html

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Capture of Soldiers Alarms Russians Relatives of Russian Soldiers Captured by Ukraine Demand Answers
(about 5 hours later)
KOSTROMA, Russia — Interviews this week with captured Russian soldiers in Ukraine, as well as news reports in independent Russian newspapers about the burials of two paratroopers killed in combat, are raising new questions among Russians about the extent of their country’s military involvement in Ukraine. KOSTROMA, Russia — Dozens of women gathered at the checkpoint of a military base outside this provincial town on Thursday, demanding to know how their sons and husbands had ended up on Ukrainian videos being interviewed as captives.
In Kostroma, a town about 210 miles northeast of Moscow, the relatives of the 10 soldiers interviewed on television in Ukraine and others from the unit exhibited some of the confusion in Russia about the situation. Those interviews, as well as reports from independent news organizations about the burials of paratroopers killed in combat, are raising questions among Russians about the extent of their country’s military involvement in Ukraine.
Dozens of women gathered at the checkpoint of the 331st Airborne Regiment outside the town, seeking answers about the fate of their loved ones. They were ushered inside for a brief meeting but were basically told that negotiations were continuing. About 50 women stood outside a checkpoint of the 331st Airborne Regiment in the town of Kostroma, about 200 miles northeast of Moscow, seeking answers about the fate of their relatives.
“The only thing I can do now is to hope that our leadership will do something,” said Yekaterina Berdova, 24, the companion of one of the captured men. Most of the families seemed to accept the explanation that the soldiers were lost and not deployed intentionally when they were captured. Yekaterina Berdova, 24, the companion of one of the captured paratroopers, said that she had been searching for information about him on the Internet since she learned about his detention on Tuesday.
Some families later gathered in a basement office, when a few paratroopers called their families for the first time since their capture. In separate telephone conversations, the soldiers said that they were being treated well. Some mothers wept. “First, I didn’t believe it,” Ms. Berdova said. “I looked at the image, and I couldn’t recognize him.” . Her partner, Sergei Smirnov, 28, appeared in one of four videos of the soldiers.
 “I don’t really know what to do,” said Olga Goreva, the mother of Yegor Pochtoyev, one of the soldiers. Her son gave her a Ukrainian number to call and talk about his release. She tried, but the phone was switched off. That prompted a heated debate, with some saying they should try to send a text message, and others saying that it could be a fraud organized by Ukrainians. Russia has denied that the troops were ordered to fight in Ukraine. President Vladimir V. Putin has said that they got lost and crossed the border by mistake.
The fate of the soldiers was among the developments that have prompted renewed scrutiny of whether Russian troops are fighting in Ukraine.
Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper, and Fontanka.ru, a website, have both reported that at least two paratroopers had been buried near Pskov in northeastern Russia recently. The reports said several dozen servicemen from the 76th Guards Airborne Division based in Pskov had not been in contact with their families since Aug. 15.
The subsequent uproar in the town reached the point that a top military commander, Col. Gen. Vladimir A. Shamanov, visited on Aug. 22. “Everybody is alive and healthy in our air assault brigade,” he said, according to news organizations.
But journalists from Novaya Gazeta and Fontanka.ru witnessed two fresh graves of paratroopers in the region on Aug. 25. Another wooden crossnearby noted that a third paratrooper had been killed on July 11.
Dmitri S. Peskov, the spokesman for Mr. Putin, was quoted in the Russian news media as saying that reports of funerals held for the soldiers needed to be investigated.
In Kostroma, the local branch of a nongovernmental organization advocating the rights of soldiers and their families, known as Soldiers’ Mothers, released a video statement on Wednesday in which the mothers and wives of the captured troops appealed to Mr. Putin and to Russia’s defense minister to speed their release.
Most of the families seemed to accept the explanation that the soldiers had gotten lost and were not deployed intentionally when they were captured — but the relatives said they still wanted to know what was being done to bring them back.
“The only thing I can do now is to hope that our leadership will do something,” Ms. Berdova said.
On Thursday afternoon, the relatives were invited to a closed meeting at the military base, but that did not seem to dispel their confusion.
The regiment left Kostroma on Aug. 18, ostensibly to participate in drills in the Rostov region further south, but their families lost contact with them over the weekend.
Lyudmila Khokhlova of the Soldiers’ Mothers group, who attended the meeting, said that it did not last long and that the comments from the commander did not vary. She said the commander had told them that negotiations were continuing.
Some families were later gathered in a basement office when a few paratroopers called their families for the first time since their capture. In separate telephone conversations, the soldiers said they were being treated well. Some mothers wept.
“I don’t really know what to do,” said Olga Goreva, the mother of Yegor Pochtoyev, one of the soldiers. Her son gave her a Ukrainian number to call to talk about his release. She tried, but the phone was switched off.