Russian women have been warned that fighters could return home as sexual sadists in need of violent gratification.
A training manual for military women highlights the profound psychological changes faced by warriors deployed to the front lines.
“Changes may manifest as a temporary intolerance to touch and reduced sexual desire,” the guide says.
‘However, they can also manifest themselves in increased sexual arousal, the need for frequent sexual acts and a predisposition to aggressive forms of sex.’
Women are being told to give their traumatized husbands a chance to ‘thaw’ after returning alive from Putin’s cannon-fodder frontline in Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed.
Russian reports that Sergei Shakhmatov (pictured) – released to fight in Ukraine – has been sent to prison for 17 years for raping two schoolgirls aged 10 and 12 on his return to Russia
Tsyren-Dorzhi Tsyrenzhapov, 42, killed again after returning from Ukraine. He was previously convicted of killing and dismembering 18-year-old Ekaterina Skvortsova, but was pardoned before the war
Ekaterina Skvortsova was brutally murdered and dismembered by Tsyrenzhapov
The men must “get used to the fact that the danger has passed and there will be no stab in the back,” says the guide to the All-Russian Popular Front, a pro-war organization founded by Putin for “proactive citizens” in 2011 .
‘It is not recommended to approach him abruptly from behind. It is better to first speak in a calm voice and then approach and touch him.
“If he doesn’t mind, cuddle him more often.” He must make it clear that he can contact you at any time.
“Here is your hand, you are close and you wait as long as it takes so that your husband can extend his hand to you in response.”
Women are told not to pressure returnees to say what they experienced amid the horrors of war, or upset them if they return disabled, as many have done.
They should never compare him to other men who may adapt more easily.
“It often happens that upon return the man withdraws and says nothing,” the manual explains.
‘In this case you should try to get him to talk [by saying] ‘Your experience is very important. And you can share it whenever you want.”
“Just be there and show him that when he’s ready to talk, you will respond to his desire and listen. Learn to listen to the silence and just be there.’
They are not allowed to criticize fighters who return home, even if they put bars on the windows of their apartments to feel safer, or sleep in their clothes, or behave inappropriately.
“It is important to understand that behind this lies the need for security that was lost during the fighting,” women are told.
‘Support him [and say] “If you want to install bars, do so if it’s safer for you.”
Spouses are urged not to say that they “understand” the returnees, but instead, “I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through.”
Pardoned murderer and rapist Vladislav Kanyus next to his former girlfriend and victim Vera Pekhteleva, (R) whom he stabbed, raped and strangled 111 times
Vera Pekhteleva, one of many victims killed by Russian soldiers, was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend
Artem Bukotin, 32, is a war returnee believed to have committed a double murder in the Rostov region of Russia
War returnee Ivan Rossomakhin (photo) has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for the rape and murder of Yulia Buiskikh, 85
They are being told that men may need specialist psychological help after seeing the atrocities unleashed by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Tell your husband that PTSD is a normal reaction of the body after a special military operation, and that professional help can help,” the guide says. ‘Make sure he doesn’t blame himself.
“Try to explain that PTSD is not a weakness or failure, but a common response to stress and trauma, and that it is important to get help to maintain his well-being.”
The manual has been criticized by human rights activist Alena Popova, who said Russian women were expected to sort out the mess created by Putin’s war.
She said: ‘Essentially women are told to ‘suck it up, you have to be there no matter what he does’. There is no doubt that PTSD is “real” and war is “scary.” It destroys and destroys the psyche of every person.
‘But a woman should not have to put up with everything because her husband has PTSD. His aggression even more so. Aggression and violence – any violence – will never be justified by anything.
“The experience of previous wars has shown that the state does not care about the psyche of the people they sent there.”
She complained that the pro-Kremlin manual told women to be “proud” and support their husbands “even if he used violence.”
Former police officer Vladislav Biryukov, sentenced to 16 years for the murder of his wife Anna Biryukova, was granted amnesty after participating in the war with Ukraine
Vladimir Putin pardoned Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, 55, (photo) brutal murderer of prominent Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya
The murderer of Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya (pictured) was pardoned after agreeing to fight in Ukraine
A fighter from Putin’s war, Igor Sofonov, 38, went on the rampage with an accomplice Maxim Bochkarev, 37, killing six in a gruesome massacre after returning home to the northern Russian region of Karelia.
“The families he and his system destroyed… apparently now have to say thank you. And women, in their opinion, should persevere and obey. But women will not tolerate this in silence. And their voices are getting louder,” she said.
Hundreds of murders, rapes and assaults have been committed by war retirees, including by convicts released by Putin and pardoned for becoming fighters of Ukraine.
Putin has proudly called his fighters in Ukraine the “new elite.”
Sexual violence is a hallmark of the behavior of returnees by a military accused of using rape as a weapon of war in Ukraine.
Former Wagner mercenary Sergei Shakhmarov, 42, who fought for Putin in Ukraine, was found guilty of raping two schoolgirls, ten and twelve, in Novosibirsk, Russia, and sentenced to 17 years in a maximum security penal colony.
Another returnee Yury Gavrilov, 33, allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl to his flat and committed acts of rape and torture in a two-hour ordeal.
