First female Russian soldier is killed in Ukraine: Mother-of-two, 35, is buried as Putin’s troops suffer another day of appalling war losses

  • Corporal Anastasia Savitskaya was reported to have been killed in Ukraine
  • The mother was buried today in her native Volgograd, a city in southwest Russia
  • Unlike in some countries, it remains rare for Russian servicewomen to go to war 
  • While the full total of Russian losses in unknown in the war, it is estimated Putin’s forces have suffered more than 30,000 deaths since he launched his invasion

The first female Russian soldier killed in Ukraine was buried today as Vladimir Putin faced yet another day of appalling war losses among his high-ranking officers.

Corporal Anastasia Savitskaya, 35, a married mother-of-two said to be a ‘real hero’, was buried today in her native Volgograd, a city on southwest Russia.

‘The deceased became the first servicewoman who died during the special military operation,’ said Alexander Strukov, the local veterans’ leader.

Savitskaya becomes one of the latest Russian colonels to be killed in Ukraine amid the Russian president’s brutal on-going invasion of the country, that has seen Ukraine’s forces put up fierce defence of their country.

While the full scale of Russia’s military losses is unknown, it is estimated that Putin’s forces have suffered more than 30,000 deaths. At least 70 colonels have been killed after at least 12 were killed in just two days.

Corporal Anastasia Savitskaya, 35, a married mother-of-two said to be a ‘real hero’, was buried today in her native Volgograd, a city on southwest Russia. Pictured: Savitskaya is seen in a photograph during her funeral on Wednesday

A friend of Savitskaya said: ‘She had dreamed of serving in the army since childhood, and signed a contract at the age of 18.’ Going to war in Ukraine ‘was her choice,’ they said.

Her bereft husband – a former soldier, not named – said at her funeral: ‘How will I carry on living now? Why did I let you go there? Beloved, beautiful, best.’

Unlike some Western countries it remains rare for Russian servicewomen to go to war. Ukraine, for example, has seen several female soldiers join the fighting.

A eulogy at the woman’s funeral said: ‘A female warrior has always been an exception to the rule. But Anastasia, having mastered the ‘home’ front, went without fear to a dangerous special operation, accomplishing a double feat.’

Sturkov said: ‘I express my condolences on the loss of the glorious daughter of Russia. Fighting and female servicemen seem incompatible, but fate has decreed so.

‘We are both grieving and proud.’

Her commander Major Sergey Minochkin said: ‘She went to collect humanitarian aid and then went to Ukraine herself. The command of the unit expresses its deepest condolences to her relatives. For us, she will always be a real hero.’

Pictured: Russian soldiers guard Corporal Anastasia Savitskaya’s coffin at her funeral today

Pictured: A picture of Corporal Anastasia Savitskaya is shown on a screen during her funeral

Separately, today has seen the disclosure of multiple losses of other colonels, while a mass funeral was held in Luhansk People’s Republic for 58 pro-Putin fighters.

Among the latest was Colonel Nikolai Kornelyuk, 49, an artillery commander with the Volgograd 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division. Lt-Col Anatoly Vasin was also killed.

Another colonel killed earlier but not disclosed at the time was Lt-Col Denis Glebov, 37, who was buried in Ryazan, Russia. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage under a decree signed by Vladimir Putin.

This takes the toll to at least 74 colonels killed in Putin’s war.

In two days, the Russian resident has seen 12 of his colonels either killed in latest fighting or revealed to have been slain in this period.

A dozen generals have also perished in the bloody conflict.

Earlier today the death of Russian Lt-Col Alexander Sorochinsky was disclosed.

His funeral was held today in Borodino village, Moscow region.

Putin also lost Lt-Col Viktor Pakholsky, 38, deputy commander of the 39th helicopter regiment in Dzhankoy, Crimea.

It is unclear where Pakholsky — decorated for bravery in Syria —was killed. 

A picture emerged today of Col Andrei Gorobets, whose death was disclosed yesterday, reportedly killed in a Ukrainian missile strike at Chornobaivka.

He was head of the operative department of staff of the 20th motorised rifle division.

Pictured: A mass burial of 58 servicemen of the pro-Putin Luhansk People’s Republic was held in the village of Vidnoye today, the latest demonstration of Russia’s heavy losses in Ukraine

Pictured: Russian soldiers watch on as a mass burial takes place in Russia today

Meanwhile, video showed the mass funeral held for 58 men killed in the fighting for Luhansk whose remains were not initially identified.

After the pro-Russians secured Luhansk, the fighters were identified and buried in the ceremony.

‘We must understand at what cost we defend our homeland, with what immeasurably wild pain we defend our freedom,’ said Luhansk official Anna Soroka as she highlighted the human cost of Vladimir Putin’s war.

‘It is the duty of everyone to remember our soldiers, those who gave their lives for our homeland.

‘It is very painful for us to say goodbye to 58 of our men on their final journey…

‘We know that the price is much higher…

‘Every day should now open a new path for us to a brighter future so the departed are not ashamed of us when they look down from heaven, our heavenly defenders.’

Colonel Nikolai Kornelyuk (pictured), 49, an artillery commander with the Volgograd 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division, is among the latest Russian Colonels to be killed in Ukraine

Another colonel killed earlier but not disclosed at the time was Lt-Col Denis Glebov (pictured), 37, who was buried in Ryazan, Russia

Col Andrei Gorobets (circled), whose death was disclosed yesterday, was reportedly killed in a Ukrainian missile strike at Chornobaivka

The misery in Russia over war losses was highlighted by footage showing a funeral in Buryatia, the region with most known slain troops.

The unidentified dead soldier’s frail widow is too grief-stricken to walk.

Instead she has to be carried by two servicemen behind the coffin draped in the Russian flag, which is carried by six men in uniform.

Weeping relatives walk behind the coffin in regional capital Ulan-Ude, and a crowd of mourners watch the sombre ceremony.

The slain soldier is given full military honours and there are suggestions he was a high-ranking officer.

The distressing footage was shared today by People of Baikal, a small independent online news agency, which has focused on war losses among servicemen from Buryatia. There are now 243 known fatalities that the news agency has uncovered.

Since Russia does not release data on its war dead, the figure is likely to be far higher.

In total, it is estimated Putin’s forces have suffered more than 30,000 deaths, with some suggestions that the toll may be above 40,000.

Meanwhile, Russian missile strikes in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv killed at least five people, Ukrainian authorities said, the latest in a series of artillery barrages across the country in the past day that left at least 10 dead and nearly 20 wounded in eastern and southern regions.

Ukrainian servicemen ride a tank near a frontline, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donbas region, Ukraine July 13, 2022

While Mykolaiv has repeatedly been the target of Russian fire in recent days, Russian missiles also struck the town of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday, an attack that could signal Moscow’s determination to hold onto territory in Ukraine’s south as it aims to fully conquer the east.

Ukrainian forces have stepped up actions in a bid to reclaim more territory in the south.

The city of Bakhmut faced particularly heavy shelling as the current focus of Russia’s offensive, Donetsk administrative chief Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

In adjacent Luhansk province, which Russian and separatist forces have all but conquered, Ukrainian soldiers battled to retain control of two outlying villages amid Russian shelling, Governor Serhiy Haidai said.

Luhansk and Donetsk together make up Ukraine’s Donbas region, a mostly Russian-speaking region of steel factories, mines and other industries vital to Ukraine’s economy.

The Russians are ‘deliberately turning Donbas into ashes, and there will be just no people left on the territories captured,’ Mr Haidai said.

Russian artillery also rained down in north-east Ukraine, where a regional governor, Oleg Syniehubov, accused Russian forces of trying to ‘terrorise civilians’ in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city. 

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