How a Russian mother is helping prisoners in Ukraine
Irina Krynina left Russia in September 2023, leaving behind her apartment in Krasnoyarsk, her car and her job as an accountant. She packed her bags, took her two daughters, aged 7 and 10 and set off for Ukraineto visit her partner, Yevgeny Kovtkov.
Kovtkov, who is not the biological father of her children, had been fighting for Russia against the Ukrainian army when he was captured.
She booked a flight to Turkey, flew from there to Moldova, and then journeyed on to Kyiv. She received logistical support from a helpline operated by Ukraine's defense intelligence service, the HUR. Named "I Want to Live" ("Khochu zhit"), the helpline was originally set up for Russian soldiers opting to surrender.
Krynina used the service to locate her partner, and then travel to Ukraine to find him — the first person to attempt such a thing in this war.
In an interview with DW, she said she had known very little about Ukraine until 2022, but had been against the annexation of Crimea back in 2014. But it was only in 2023, when her partner was sent to the Donetsk region to fight and was soon after taken prisoner, that she started reading up about the war.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Swelling and internal bleeding in the brain, help this baby
Donate For Health
Donate Now
Undo
"When I realized what was really happening, I didn't want to stay in Russia anymore," said Krynina. "I was completely disappointed by the Russian state ... I don't want my family and children to be held responsible for the horror that is happening. That's why I went to Ukraine to help."
Upon arrival, Krynina faced disappointment. Her partner was not happy about her visit. In an online video published by a Ukrainian YouTuber, the man quietly asks: "Ira, why?" He comes across as tense and confused.
While Krynina wants to stay in Ukraine for the time being, Kovtkov is waiting for a prisoner exchange to return to Russia. Today, they are no longer a couple. "I didn't recognize Yevgeny," she said. "He has changed a lot, he is cold, withdrawn and anxious. War and imprisonment change people a lot."
Our Way Out helps Russians contact prisoners of war
In Ukraine, Krynina founded the project Our Way Out, which helps the relatives of Russian prisoners of war to get in touch with their loved ones.
The initiative was joined by the well-known Russian journalist Victoria Ivleva, who has been campaigning for Ukraine since 2014 and moved to Kyiv in March 2022.
Krynina visits prisoners in camps, records conversations with them, delivers parcels and helps them to make phone calls. The video conversations also serve as proof to prisoners' relatives that they are in captivity, she said, adding that it is difficult to be recognized as a prisoner of war in Russia.
Many captured soldiers are often written off as missing, dead or labeled as deserters. Others are still listed as active soldiers, although they cannot be contacted. Krynina said that even Russian conscription offices are now secretly recommending that relatives of prisoners of war contact the project.
Its YouTube channel has over 100,000 subscribers and features hundreds of interviews with prisoners who talk about their former lives, why they signed up with the Russian army and how they were captured.
It also features conversations with relatives of Russians who were sent back to the fight in Ukraine after being returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange. Krynina advises those affected to contact journalists and lawyers. "If a prisoner of war does not fight for his rights, does not demand anything, then the state simply sends him back to war," she explained.
Despite the risk of former prisoners being sent to fight on Ukrainian soil once again, Krynina wants to continue helping Russian prisoners of war return home.
"Every returned Russian also means a returned Ukrainian," she said. "The exchange must continue.
'Everyone is tired of this war'
When Krynina first arrived, Petro Yatsenko from the Ukrainian military's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War told the news platform Detector Media that she also played a role in "helping Ukraine in the information war against Russia."
Krynina said she aims to show "Russians what is really going on."
To do this, she travels to the sites of Russian attacks and records videos. She believes her approach works: "Many of those who are close to someone on the front, I'd say 99%, want all this to stop. Everyone is tired of this war, and no one understands why it is still going on."
Krynina is convinced that her videos are one of the reasons why her project was placed on Russia's "foreign agents" blacklist in July 2025. When asked by DW whether she feels guilty for the crimes that Russians have committed in this war, she said: "I can't understand why they're shooting.
It's very hard for me to bear."
How is she doing in Ukraine?
Many Russians have condemned Krynina's move to Ukraine, but Ukrainians also have mixed feelings about her. In spring 2025, a post by a customer of a Kyiv fitness club went viral on Facebook. She met Krynina while exercising and was outraged that a Russian citizen was allowed to move freely in Ukraine. Some comments urged the fitness club to deny Krynina access, while others pointed out that she was in the country legally.
Krynina said that at first, she feared she would be condemned for speaking Russian, but adds that this not been the case so far. These days, she rents an apartment in Kyiv and her daughters attend a Ukrainian school. She is supported by her ex-husband and works as an accountant on the side. Her work for Our Way Out is voluntary.
She told DW that she hopes to return to a "free Russia" one day, but added that relations between Russians and Ukrainians will never be the same again.
"Russia has brought a lot of suffering and hardship to the Ukrainian people. I think the Russians will feel guilty, but they won't be able to make amends. I don't know if the Ukrainians will be able to forgive the Russians for what they have done. It will be generations before we can even think about peace," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Deccan Herald
a minute ago
- Deccan Herald
'Absolutely not': Shashi Tharoor rejects Trump's dead economy remark
Trump called India a "dead economy", sparking a political firestorm in India, hours after he announced a 25 per cent tariff on import of Indian goods along with an unspecified "penalty" for buying "vast majority" of Russian military equipment and crude oil.
The Hindu
a minute ago
- The Hindu
It may take one year to get death certificate of youths killed in Russia-Ukraine war
The anxious wait of the families of Indian nationals to get death certificates of their dear ones who died fighting for the Russian armed forces in the war with Ukraine will be longer than anticipated. Many had been allegedly tricked by promises of lucrative jobs in the Russian armed forces. According to the latest update, as many as 13 Indian nationals recruited by Russia as mercenaries in the war with Ukraine remain in the Russian armed forces. However, 12 of them have been reported missing by the Russian authorities, said Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh in Parliament. Although the Russian authorities have been urged to provide an update on all the remaining/missing individuals and ensure their safety and early discharge, a good number of them are reported to have been killed in the war. Ajith Kolassery, Chief Executive Officer of NoRKA-Roots, said Binil Babu, 32, one of the two youths from Thrissur forcibly enlisted by the Russian Army, was killed in a shell attack on the Russia-Ukraine warfront in January and had been reportedly included on the missing list. 'Recently, during a visit to Russia, I personally enquired about the possibility of confirming the death and issuing a death certificate at the earliest. However, it will take at least one year to get it confirmed and for issuing the death certificate,' said Mr. Kolassery. As per official information, there were 127 Indian nationals in the Russian armed forces, of which the services of 98 had been discontinued as a result of sustained engagement between the Indian and Russian governments. However, it is assumed that more Indians, including Keralites, had been recruited to the Russian armed forces as mercenaries. Since the majority of them were not on the warfront without imminent danger, their families refuse to come up with plea to rescue them, said Mr. Kolassery. Earlier, another Keralite, identified as Sandeep Chandran, 36, from Thrissur, had died in shelling in Ukraine in August 2024.
Mint
a minute ago
- Mint
Epstein's Work for Leon Black Deserves IRS Probe, Wyden Says
(Bloomberg) -- A key Senate Democrat broadened his attack on the Trump administration's handling of records about the financing of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking network, urging the Internal Revenue Service to investigate his tax and estate planning work for private equity titan Leon Black. Ron Wyden, the Senate Finance Committee's top Democrat, wrote Thursday to IRS Commissioner Billy Long to question why the agency had not audited at least $158 million in payments that Black made to Epstein between 2012 and 2017 for complex tax-related transactions. A spokesman for Black denied that he engaged in wrongdoing. 'It is unthinkable that transactions amounting to tens of millions of dollars paid to a known criminal for the purpose of helping a mega-wealthy individual dodge billions in taxes were never audited or investigated,' wrote Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. 'When Americans think the system is rigged, this is the kind of abuse they think about.' Wyden is accelerating his attack on President Donald Trump's Treasury Department for failing to release any information about more than $1.5 billion in Epstein transactions that flowed through several US and Russian banks. His criticism comes amid widespread pressure for the Justice Department to release criminal records about the investigations of Epstein, who died in prison as he faced sex-trafficking charges, and Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate who is serving a 20-year prison term. Black retired as Apollo Global Management Inc.'s longtime chief executive officer in 2021 amid controversies. An independent review done by an outside law firm for Black four years ago concluded that he 'had not engaged in any wrongdoing,' according to a spokesperson for Black. It says he 'had no awareness of Epstein's criminal activity and all of the fees paid were for legitimate tax, estate and philanthropy planning services and were vetted and approved by outside law firms.' Wyden began investigating Black's activities with Epstein in 2022, when Joe Biden was president and Democrats controlled the Senate. A spokesman for the Treasury Department said Friday in a statement: 'IRS takes all requests seriously and will review Senator Wyden's letter. That said, clearly the Senator's antics are politically motivated. If this was so pressing, where was the Biden administration the last four years and Senator Wyden when he was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee?' Wyden's staff has pursued a 'follow the money' strategy as it investigates the flow of funds in and out of Epstein's accounts before his 2019 death in prison. In a July 21 letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, he said his investigators found the Treasury Department has documented 4,725 wire transfers. The transfers were detailed by banks in so-called suspicious activity reports that are supposed to serve as an early-warning system to investigators about possible criminal activity. Some of the banks did not file the reports until years later. In his letter to Bondi, Wyden urged the Justice Department to 'immediately investigate' evidence in the Treasury files and subpoena records on Epstein from Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Deutsche Bank AG. Spokespeople for Bank of America and JPMorgan declined to comment. A Justice Department spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 'The bank regrets our historical connection with Jeffrey Epstein,' Deutsche Bank said in a statement. 'We have cooperated with regulatory and law enforcement agencies regarding their investigations and have been transparent in addressing these matters in parallel.' In 2023, JPMorgan reached a $290 million settlement with Epstein's victims. It separately reached a $75 million settlement over Epstein with the US Virgin Islands, where he had a private retreat and took some of his victims. Deutsche Bank also agreed to pay $75 million to Epstein's victims. Black agreed to pay $62.5 million to the US Virgin Islands. That settlement agreement said Epstein 'used the money Black paid to him to partially fund his operations in the Virgin Islands.' Wyden spoke to reporters on Thursday, accusing the Treasury Department under Trump of suppressing critical information about Epstein's suspicious financial transactions, while he said banks were 'sleepwalking' over the matter. 'The longer this administration stalls, the more it becomes clear that there is something to hide,' Wyden said. 'There has been a concerted effort by the Trump administration to play down that these important records are at the Treasury Department.' Wyden said it's clear to him that banks helped fund Epstein's global sex-trafficking operations. 'I think they should be making as much of that information available as possible. I think everything should come out. Period,' Wyden said. --With assistance from Ava Benny-Morrison. (Updates in eighth paragraph with Treasury Department comment.) More stories like this are available on
