When Sascha T.* (24) was mobilized to fight on the Russian side in Ukraine, his twin brother Juri T.* (24) didn’t hesitate for long: he volunteered and was recruited as a Wagner mercenary. Sascha died at the front – but what happened to his brother is unclear. Since the family from the Urals has lost contact with him, writes “E1”, a news portal from Yekaterinburg. They desperately search for Yuri, but the Russian authorities remain silent.
For a long time, the family did not hear about his brother’s death. He last reported in October, about a month after receiving the marching orders. Then there was radio silence. It was only after several inquiries with the authorities that they received news that Sascha had died at the front in October in the annexed Luhansk region.
The next of kin did not receive much more information. It was not until December that they received the body of the deceased relative – more than a month after his death. The family was able to give their deceased Sascha a dignified burial. Many other Russian families do not even know about the death of their loved ones.
There is no trace of the other brother
The family asked the bosses of the Wagner mercenaries to give Yuri T. a leave of absence so that he could bury his twin brother. The request was rejected. “We can’t find out anything about Juri,” his sister says desperately to “E1”. Her brother made contact for the last time in early November. “We can’t lose him either,” the sister said.
The family is now trying to get the son out of the recruited Wagner group and applied to the Wagner Center in Moscow. But Wagner refuses to send Juri T. to his family. The excuse: his unit is in a combat zone where contact with him is impossible. “We don’t even know if he’s alive,” the sister complains.
Yuri T. was serving his sentence at the time of his recruitment. In 2018, the young man, who had a criminal record, drunkenly stole a motorcycle to take it for a ride. For this he was sentenced to more than two years. He would actually be free again in December. “Since my brother is there, I’m going too,” he told his family in September, three months before he was due to be released. But now there is no sign of life. (jwg)
* Names changed