A Russian woman put her life at risk by fleeing to Ukraine to see her prisoner-of-war boyfriend. But their severe meeting in Kyiv emphasizes the emotional scars of Vladimir Putin’s war.
Russian prisoner Evgeny Kovtkov was shocked and overwhelmed that Irina Krynina had traveled from Russia to Ukraine to see him with her two daughters.
She was stunned by his weight loss and his insistence that he wants to return to Russia, even as she describes how he and his comrades have been used as cannon fodder by the Kremlin.
The couple has not been together since he was hired a year ago and was first sent to the occupied nuclear city of Energodar before being moved to the front line at Bakhmut.
Evgeny Kovtkov battled for Putin for 10 months before he was captured.
Evgeny was asked how he felt after his partner traveled through enemy lines to see him. “Shocked,” he replied
He was captured on July 7, and Irina blamed Putin’s government for “lies” about the POW exchanges – so without informing anyone, she negotiated with the Ukrainians to reach to him herself.
But his first words to her when they met were a whisper: “What the f*** is that for?”
She acknowledged that “he’s not happy” after the 2,000-mile travel that saw her thrashing the FSB security service to reach Ukraine.
Irina acknowledged: “This is what I was afraid of” – about his response.
He hugged her and the sessions were held on camera by prominent Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Zolkin.
Despite plans from Ukraine for women, partners, and mothers to come to the rescue of Russian men, Irina is the first to do this.
He asked her, “Why did you come here (to Ukraine)?”
She replied, “That’s what we’re going to talk about now.
“You’ve been in captivity for three months and you don’t know what’s going on in Russia.”
She made it clear: “Russia doesn’t care about those who died with you in Klishchiivka (where he was captured) or whether they are still rotting there.
“That they don’t say anything about you in captivity.”
He seemed genuinely shocked and asked, “Why?”
She asked, “Well, give me a hug….?”
Despite plans from Ukraine to have women, partners, and mothers come to the rescue of Russian men, Irina is the first to do so
The POW was asked what he considered about his partner traveling through enemy lines to see him.
“Shocked,” he replied.
s’Can you imagine this?’
“No, I couldn’t.”
“What are your thoughts now?”
“No thoughts…I’m shocked this happened.”
“How do you evaluate her actions?”
‘A presentation.’
Irina told him that there was no way back for her as long as Putin stayed in the Kremlin.
She wants him to assist her in making videos that tell the truth about the war, but it is unclear whether he agrees.
“To be clear, I came here knowing I had no way back to Russia,” she said.
“That is, I will either be imprisoned – this is the best case, and the worst will be what happened to (Wagner army boss Yevgeny) Prigozhin (died in a plane crash).”
He said he was aware of Progozhin’s fate, with many believing the mercenary chief was killed on the orders of his former protector, Putin.
Irina said: “So I took two children, one suitcase for three – and came here.
“To save you and stop the war.”
She admitted that “he’s not happy” after her 2,000-mile journey that saw her defeat the FSB security service to reach Ukraine.
The POW insisted he wanted to return to Russia, but admitted: “So far I don’t understand it at all.”
They also called their relatives in Russia and confirmed that he had not been tortured in Ukraine, a claim sometimes made by Putin’s subservient media.
Irina admitted in a separate interview that even if he returns to Russia, in captivity of war, she cannot after fleeing to meet him.
“I’ll come back when Putin is gone,” she said.
In Russia, she came under the eye of the feared FSB security service – once led by Putin – after expressing anti-war messages on social media.
She told how Evgeny was “thrown at the artillery with only automatic weapons” – a common complaint about Putin’s “cannon fodder.”
“We are living a lie,” she said.
“I realized that our state, quite frankly, doesn’t care about the prisoners, the dead who are there for two months straight, they’re just not being picked up.”
It is unclear what will happen to the couple now.
