The Returnees

Since February 2022, hundreds of thousands of Russians have passed through the front lines. They return home changed—shaped by experiences beyond imagination. They’ve seen shells tear their friends apart, dogs eat corpses. They’ve slept on dead bodies. And they’ve pulled the trigger themselves. How has this changed them? What do they think about the war? Can they find their place in peaceful life? We came to these men with questions that trouble us as well. Eighteen men speak about the terrifying events they took part in. About the choices they made. And how they now judge those choices. Their shared story as men is one of the greatest tragedies to have befallen our country in recent decades.