Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ A Russian family has buried an unknown soldier in place of their own missing relative so that they could obtain death benefits and acquire their relative's "luxurious" property in his home town of Rzhev in western Russia. ⬇️

2/ Important Stories reports on the 'burial' of 42-year-old Mikhail Smirnov, formerly a builder from Rzhev. After being mobilised in October 2022 he was sent to train as a tank driver. He was last heard from in August 2023, when he told friends he was near Bakhmut.

3/ He was declared dead in late September and a body was brought back to Rzhev in a closed coffin. However, his friends became suspicious after discrepancies emerged. His death certificate gave the wrong year of birth and the personal belongings were clearly not his.

4/ Smirnov's friends insisted on opening the coffin and found a different body inside. Although the face was unrecognisable, the body had molars which Smirnov lacked and had black hair, while Smirnov's was grey. As a result, the planned funeral was cancelled.

5/ The case aroused anger in the town. Smirnov's friend Nikolai comments: "Our city is small, people walk around and say: “What's going on? What about the other mothers who were forbidden to open the coffins... Who did they bury?”"

6/ The misidentification seems to have happened in Tver, where Russian bodies are processed before being sent to their home towns. "The guys who bring coffins to the Tver region say that every other day about 30 people arrive here," Nikolai says.

7/ "What outrages everybody is that you guys send them there to fight, but you don’t take any fingerprints or do any genetic testing. Dogs are not treated like our guys. Even the guards are fingerprinted. How will you now look for a person all over Russia?"

8/ However, even though the case is still under investigation, on 8 October the funeral was un-cancelled. The Rzhev Municipal District announced that "a farewell to Mikhail Smirnov, who died heroically during a special military operation" would take place on 9 October.

9/ The unknown man was buried in Rzhev's Shchupinsky cemetery at the insistence of the local administration and his relatives, who are however very distant. Nikolai says:

10/ "They said that [DNA tests] would be ready within three months, and the [municipal] administration insisted that he needed to be buried, just so that he wouldn’t lie there in the morgue. Not in his parents’ grave, but still as Mikhail Smirnov.

11/ "Because the money was allocated, but the relatives – well, what do they want... They are extremely distantly related, they didn’t even communicate with the living Misha, they don’t care.

12/ "They need to become related as soon as possible: Misha still has a house and a two-room apartment in Rzhev."

The relatives have not explained themselves and have refused to comment to the media.

13/ Smirnov's friends refused to participate in the funeral and continue to hope that he is still alive. However, the chances of finding him seem remote.

14/ "What if Misha was actually captured, and here he’s already considered dead, which means that now no one will look for him at all... Is that how it turns out?", asks one of his friends. /end

Sources:
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🔹 istories.media/news/2023/10/0…
storage.googleapis.com/istories/news/…
vk.com/wall-184512577…