A corporal from Volgograd is believed to be the first female Russian soldier to have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin more than four months ago, media reported Wednesday.
Cpl. Anastasia Savitskaya was from a city in southwestern Russia. The v1.ru news website said she was killed in a “special operation” but didn’t confirm details of the mission that led to her death.
The Moscow Times said Volgograd has one of the highest regional death tolls in the Ukraine war, with a total of 136 killed in combat. It cited the independent Russian media outlet iStories.
Cpl. Savitskaya met her husband while they were in the Russian army. According to v1.ru, he is now on a military pension. The couple has two children.
“How am I going to live now? Why did I let you go there?” her husband said during the funeral, v1.ru reported.