January 08, 2024

The Women with the White Scarves


The Women with the White Scarves
A woman wearing a white scarf with a sign reading, "Bring the mobilized home! Down [with] recruitment slavery!"  Put Domoy, Telegram

In December, women wearing white scarves protested solo in the Moscow cold. They left flowers for Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine at the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier and held signs in front of different government buildings demanding the return of their husbands and sons.

Put' Domoy (The Way Home) is an over-9,000-member Telegram channel that brings together family members of mobilized soldiers to advocate for their return from the front. On November 27, 2023, Put' Domoy circulated a petition to put a one-year time limit for serving at the front, institute a commission for wounded soldiers, and expand the list of diseases that can qualify someone as ineligible for the draft. In an open letter to President Vladimir Putin, organizers wrote, "We were f*cked, and you [Putin] will be f*cked. too." 

The women-led Telegram channel has often tried to hold rallies in cities across Russia but were blocked by local authorities, who cited COVID-19 restrictions. Security forces knocked on soldiers' wives' doors in Krasnoyarsk Krai and Kemerovo Oblast. However, the women aren't just considered local threats. According to Kommersant, the wives of soldiers are one of the main concerns for the Kremlin in the March elections. In response, regional officials attempted to "extinguish [Put' Domoy] with money." 

Yet, on December 6, 15 women deposited flowers on the memorial at the Kremlin wall to fallen Soviet soldiers during World War II. Then, they picketed alone in front of the Ministry of Defense, the Presidential Administration, and the Supreme Court buildings. The women wore white scarves referencing the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, a group of Argentinian women who organized rallies looking for their children who were disappeared by the country's military dictatorship in the late seventies and early eighties. 

President Putin declared 2024 "the year of the family," enraging families of drafted soldiers. In response, Maria Andreyeva, a Put' Domoy member and a mobilized soldier's wife, told SOTA,  "They have nullified us, written us off along with our husbands."

You Might Also Like

An Anti-War Art Awakening
  • December 18, 2023

An Anti-War Art Awakening

Anonymous artist Zless creates anti-war art that juxtaposes traditional Russian symbols and the horrors of the invasion of Ukraine.
  • October 11, 2023

"Our Men Are Not Slaves; Bring Them Home"

Relatives of mobilized Russians are demanding the return of loved ones who have been at war for an extended period. Russian authorities are censoring their messages.
There Is Only Death There
  • September 28, 2023

There Is Only Death There

New statistics reveal that one in five mobilized Russians did not survive even two months in the Russian war in Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955