Soldier's wife demands husband's return at Putin HQ

STORY: The wife of a Russian soldier delivered an emotional appeal for his return from Ukraine on Saturday at the election headquarters of President Vladimir Putin, a defiant gesture in a country where open criticism of the war is banned.

"So what's next? The Ministry of Defence has spent its money, now we need to squeeze everything out of our guys, get the last life out of them? So that they come back to us just as stumps? Will they give me the stump? What will I get back? A man without legs, without arms, a sick man? Don't you know what's happening there?"

The heated exchange came after Maria Andreyeva was told by a woman at Putin's election base that Russian soldiers in Ukraine were defending the motherland and that she should pray for them.

It showed the depth of anger and despair among some soldiers' families as the war grinds on, with no end in sight after nearly two years.

"I think we need to come en masse, write similar appeals - instructions - in order to force them by weight of numbers. Previously we went to lawmakers, we wrote letters, I think now is exactly the moment when we need to act. If not know, when?"

Andreyeva belongs to an organization of soldiers' wives called "The Way Home" that is campaigning for the return of their husbands from Ukraine.

Last month, Putin chose a gathering with soldiers to announce his plan to run for a new six-year term at an election in March, where supporters and opponents alike see his victory as a foregone conclusion.

He has said that Russia was in a strong position across the entire front line in Ukraine and would press ahead to meet the goals of what he calls a "special military operation."