Russian made to join war by wife killed in first battle within days on frontline

A Russian wife who told her husband he would be a “coward” if he didn’t fight in Ukraine was shocked to find he was killed just days after arriving in the war-torn country.

When dad-of-two Ilya Korolev was called up by deranged Vladimir Putin his wife Anastasia told him to go and “protect me and our children”.

But the 29-year-old, who had been working packing meat before being sent to battle, didn’t last long and died in a combat mission in the Kherson region.

READ MORE: Putin wore £5,000 designer coat on visit to troops as he tested Russian sniper rifle

She told E1 RU: "We did not believe in this whole situation. It didn't seem to be about us.

"But then came the summons to his work. He was very worried and afraid… I myself told him: 'Go, don’t be a coward, you will protect me and our children."

According to Anastasia, her now-deceased husband was promised a month of training but was sent to fight in the bloody war after just one week.

Now, the heartbroken widow – who told their young kids, aged six and two, that their dad was heading on a business trip – has to explain he is never coming back.

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She explained: "I did not expect it to happen to me, and even so quickly.

"I just don’t have the heart to tell them, they are still very small. Ilya loved children so much, just with all his heart."

Vladimir Putin’s crazed drive to increase mobilisation of troops in a bid to turn around his flailing war in Ukraine was met with backlash by many in Russia who didn’t want to fight.

Morale has reportedly dropped so low that conscripts who are refusing to fight have been chucked into dryers and told if they die from a hunger strikes, officers will tell their families it was suicide.

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