‘My son said: only 10 out of 67 of us survived’
The story of a Russian woman who lost her husband in Chechnya and her son in Ukraine
“Sasha never did find out what the word ‘dad’ meant”, Vera Maksakova says. She lives in the village of Kuratovo in Russia’s Komi republic. Her son, Alexander (or Sasha for short) Tutrinov, went to a local school which had a plaque commemorating his father, Semyon Tutrinov. The older Tutrinov was a contract serviceman who took part in Russia’s “counter-terrorist operations” in Chechnya, where he was killed back in 2002.
Alexander decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and went to serve in the army. Shortly before the invasion of Ukraine, he signed a military contract — a decision that his mother was against.
Unfortunately, we could not get a comprehensive picture of the fate of the father and son since Vera Maksakova was deeply affected by the loss and felt unwell during our conversation. She was unable to finish the interview.
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