Mothers of many Crimean soldiers, who were drafted into the Ukrainian army when their homeland was part of Ukraine, are having their worst nightmare – that their sons would be seen as enemies at home or even never come back.
As Crimea became a part of Russia, these Crimean soldiers drafted into the Ukrainian army, became “trapped” in another country. Mothers can now only speak to them by phone from time to time, RT has learnt.
“I tell him, ‘Hello, son, I love you’. That is all I can tell him,” Susannah, a mother of a Crimean soldier serving in Ukraine, told RT.
“Some officers ask now who comes from Crimea, they put down their last names but don’t explain why,” she adds.
The women still don’t know whether Kiev will allow their sons to see their homeland. The soldiers, in their turn, don’t look optimistic either.
“My son and his friends think that they won’t return home,” says Elena, a mother of an 18-year old Crimean soldier, “I try to tell him to stay calm, that Ukraine, Russia, and the Crimean government will solve this and you will be back home, anything to keep him calm.”
The public uprising in Crimea culminated in a referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of over 96 percent voted in favor of reunification with Russia. On March 21, Russia finalized the legal process of taking Crimea and the city of Sevastopol under its sovereignty.
For more, watch the report by RT’s Paula Slier.