Olga Zhukova, 28, is one of the organizers of the Hero's Wife campaign.

Her husband was wounded while performing combat missions during a special operation in Ukraine.

The woman lived in the hospital to take care of him.

According to Zhukova, the Hero's Wife project is a way to unite women, give them strength and remind the military in the CVO that they are welcome and loved at home.

“For me, the main goal of the project is to unite women and military families.

I know what it's like to be a soldier's wife.

I know what it's like to move to a new husband's assignment, where he leaves every day for the service, and you are left alone with the children.

Support is very important, ”Zhukova is sure. 

Olga says that she was mentally prepared for her husband's departure to the NVO zone: "I knew that he would be on the front line."

However, the first months of the special operation were very difficult for her.

“There were sleepless nights, especially during the period when the information war was actively going on and there was a lot of fake information.

For example, information came that our guys, who were actually alive, had died.

We saw videos on social networks with the guys from our unit who were captured - it was also very difficult, ”recalls Olga. 

In June 2022, Zhukova decided to take humanitarian aid to the war zone, to her husband's unit.

Many dissuaded her, urged her to think about children - she and her husband have two daughters.

But Olga decided firmly: "I'm going."

And then she found out that her husband would take the cargo and deliver it to the front line.

“Naturally, I decided to see my husband at all costs.

When we met, for the first ten minutes I just couldn't let him go.

The husband was probably proud that his wife came to him.

Because it is very important to feel that they are waiting for you and they are worried about you, ”the wife of the serviceman believes.

A few weeks after that meeting with Olga, her husband was blown up by a mine.

Zhukova was not told about it right away, but she felt that something was wrong.

The wife of the serviceman said that at some point her husband stopped communicating, and she developed a strong sense of anxiety.

Soon the wife of the military was informed that her husband was wounded and was being hospitalized, and Olga immediately went to her husband.

When she saw her husband on the bed, he was still covered in soot.

Olga really wanted to hug her beloved, but she was afraid - there were a lot of fractures.

The soldier's wife lived in the hospital for several weeks, she helped her husband eat, take a shower, go to the toilet.

According to Olga Zhukova, she never allowed herself to cry in the hospital. 

  • Olga Zhukova

  • © Campaign "Hero's Wife"

“I always hold back.

Even my husband once told me about it: “You never cry.”

I answered him: “It’s just that you never see it.”

Even when I saw him off at the NWO, I restrained myself as much as possible.

I understood that he was a commander and his subordinates were around, and I needed to remain calm, and not shed tears, in order to be an example, to show calmness.

Already when you return home and are left alone, you can throw out emotions, and with my husband I try not to do this, ”explains Zhukova.

Olga said that at the beginning of the SVO, she had to change her name on social networks and delete joint photos with her husband because of the threats she received from Ukrainian bots.

Now, while working on the Hero's Wife project, she is no longer hiding - according to her, there are even more threats, but there is also a lot of support from women who are also waiting at home for their men.

Idalia Shakirova

On June 30, the husband of Idalia Shakirova, a participant in the "Hero's Wife" action, Ildar Saifullin, died in the NVO zone.

Ildar was posthumously presented to the Order of Courage - his four-year-old daughter received the award for her father.

Idalia learned about the "Hero's Wife" campaign and decided to participate in it in order to honor the memory of her husband, who gave his life in the line of military duty.

“This is a memory.

This is a kind of symbol - for the victory.

The project involves both the wives of those who died and those who fight on the front lines.

Although my husband died, I would like to involve other women in the action, ”the RT interlocutor explains her decision. 

According to Idalia, she did not want to marry a military man, because she works as a nurse in a military hospital named after.

A.A.

Vishnevsky in Krasnogorsk and constantly sees that service always comes first for the military.

But, having met Ildar, Idalia fell in love.

“He is such a cheerful guy, very friendly, helpful, loved to help.

Sincere man, it captivates the most.

When we met, I did not know that he was a military man, after a couple of weeks I only found out.

We fell in love, we had to accept this fact, that an irreversible process had begun, ”says the widow of a serviceman.

Before the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Ildar Saifullin was the commander of the commandant's company, and was in charge of the brigade headquarters.

According to Idalia, her husband was highly respected among colleagues and always wanted to train the military, pass on his knowledge and experience.

Ildar went to the NVO zone of his own free will - at the time of the start of the special operation, he served in the headquarters.

But, after conferring with colleagues, Saifullin decided to go to the front line - the man left on March 2.

In July, he planned to come home on vacation, but did not have time.

“On June 30, he was wounded and literally died six hours later.

There was shelling, and a single piece of shrapnel hit him - in the head, ”said Idalia.

  • Idalia Shakirova

  • © Campaign "Hero's Wife"

The woman was informed about the death of her husband by Saifullin's colleagues - out of respect for the commander, they personally came to his wife to tell about what had happened.

According to Shakirova, she soon told her daughter that her father was no more.

“My daughter understood everything, she is a very smart girl.

I discussed this at work, how to tell.

They say you need to wait, present it somehow gently so as not to hurt.

We sat down, I say: "Daddy died."

She says, "I know."

Apparently, when I was talking with my friends, she will catch here, catch there, ”says Idalia.

Now she and her daughter have moved to a new two-room apartment - as Ildar wanted.

The new house has a room for Idalia's father: after the death of his son-in-law, the man came to his daughter to help her look after her granddaughter.

Ildar was buried at home, in Tatarstan, - Idalia and her daughter are going to go there to the grave of her husband and father. 

“We will never forget him.

His memory will always be fresh,” says Shakirova.

Maria Safina

Maria Safina was pregnant and raised her son while her husband was on a special operation.

Their daughter was born the day he returned from the front lines.

For Maria Safina, a participant in the "Hero's Wife" action, the SVO is not the first long business trip of her husband, a military man.

Maria met her husband in 2017 - even then he left for Syria several times for a long time.

According to Safina, he could not imagine life without military service, it was he who convinced her to sign a contract after graduating from a medical college and get a job in a military hospital.

In 2018, her husband's next trip to Syria fell on the period when Maria was pregnant with her first child.

It became a difficult test.

However, the woman experienced even more experiences when her husband went to the NWO zone.

On the eve of his departure, Maria learned that she was pregnant with her second child.

“When the SVO began, we served in the Chelyabinsk region.

We have a son, and we really wanted a daughter, but by the grace of God, we waited for her for six months, and in March 2022 we found out that I was pregnant.

And a couple of days later, my husband left ... Tears, nerves, weeks without communication, calls from colleagues who somehow could convey at least some news from him, ”recalls the interlocutor of RT.

In May, sister Maria's husband died heroically in the NMD.

Her husband, meanwhile, did not get in touch.

Maria experienced great stress - she was worried not only for her husband, but also for her unborn child, she was afraid that such unrest in a short time could harm her.

  • Maria Safina

  • © Campaign "Hero's Wife"

In the summer, Maria's husband returned from a business trip safe and sound, but he could not wait for the birth of his daughter - the man was again called to the front line.

He left his wife on October 18 - a month before the expected date of birth.

Maria and the child remained in Moscow alone, she had no relatives in the capital, so her mother decided to come to her in case childbirth began.

But by a lucky chance, Maria's husband was able to return ahead of schedule from the second business trip. 

“They completed their task, the husband asked the commander to let him go.

He called me, said that he had bought a ticket, and I exhaled.

He was supposed to arrive in Moscow at 04:00, and at 02:00 I started having contractions.

My husband came and immediately took me to the hospital.

The daughter was born, the husband really wanted a girl.

They called him Veronica,” says the serviceman’s wife.

Maria claims that over time she got used to the idea that her husband has to go on business trips for a long time.

Despite all the worries, the woman believes that her husband, with his knowledge and experience, "is now more needed there, on the front line."

“He loves his profession very much and knows everything.

Even here, at home, he is constantly in touch.

So, I think he is more needed there now?

Maria explains her position.