'There's no one to help': Russian mercenary industry's toll on families

As Russia seeks to increase influence abroad, woman who lost ex-husband in Syria tells of fight for compensation

When Olga Markelova’s ex-husband Dmitri was killed fighting in Syria in 2017, she expected the Russian government to help provide at least for their daughter, his only child.

After all, Dmitri had served in the army for a decade in hotspots such as Chechnya. Before his death he had signed on with a private military company – his friends told her it was called Wagner – to fight in Ukraine and later Syria. For Olga it was just another military job.

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from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2HqvBaK