A grieving Russian mother has delivered a furious warning to Vladimir Putin after waiting nearly two years for the remains of her son — only to discover his body had been returned without its head. Ms Sterkhova waited a year and eight months before authorities finally handed over her son’s remains, according to The Moscow Times, as cited by WP. The devastating discovery prompted her to record a direct message to the Russian president, accusing him of destroying and killing young men. “A few days ago, I buried my son. What is happening in our Russia? Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, what are you doing?” she said. “You’re destroying our boys! You’re destroying them, killing them.” Her grief quickly turned into a blunt political warning. Looking directly into the camera, Sterkhova asked Putin: “Do you want a civil war?” before declaring: “You’ll get it soon.” The video has circulated online as an example of anger among Russian military families. Sterkhova’s extraordinary outburst lays bare the frustration surrounding the treatment of soldiers and their relatives. Then came another bitter blow: bureaucracy surrounding the death of her son. She said a recruitment office demanded the original death document before paying a promised allowance. But there was a devastating catch. Officials had already confiscated the same paperwork weeks earlier, leaving the grieving mother caught in what she described as an impossible administrative loop. Sterkhova also accused military commanders of corruption, claiming officers demanded cash from soldiers who wanted to avoid dangerous deployments. Her allegations were blunt and explosive. “You want to leave? Pay! You don’t want to go to the front? Pay!” she said. She then demanded to know how many more soldiers would be destroyed while accusing officers of profiting from the suffering of military families. Her anger comes as rumours of another mass mobilisation continue to grow in Russia. Sterkhova made clear that whatever happens next, she does not intend to surrender her surviving son to the state. “Mothers, rise up, rise up,” she pleaded. “Why are they killing our sons? It’s a mockery!” Her final question was aimed directly at Putin: “When will you stop all this?” The video offers a stark glimpse of the fury that can follow when military families are left waiting for answers, compensation and the remains of their loved ones. For Sterkhova, the wait for her son ended with a discovery that transformed grief into a direct confrontation with the Kremlin. Russian mother warns Putin: "Do you want a civil war?"
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