'90% Thermal Burns': Slain Russian Soldier's Family Says His Entire Platoon Died In War

The family of an 18-year-old Russian soldier, who was killed in Ukraine, has revealed how their worst nightmare came true when his calls abruptly stopped three weeks after the war began. Roman Akimov joined the Russian army immediately after school, but his life was cut short after his entire platoon was killed near Izyum on March 17.

"During our last conversation (March 15), I asked him if he was warmly dressed, the answer was: "yes." Whether they are well fed, the answer is also positive. I asked him not to be a hero, said that we are waiting for him at home and love him. He sounded cheerful. But who knows how it really was, "Roman's mother Evgenia told Radio Svoboda, a Russian wing of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

According to Roman's sister Natalya Vakar, the teen dreamt of a career in the military despite his family's protests. He joined the army as a contract soldier last year, and on Dec. 10, Roman left home, and by the next week, he was already at the transit point.

"On Feb. 8, Roman constantly called all of us. During the last conversation with my mother, he said that soon they would all leave for the exercises, and so that we would not lose him, they would leave the phones in the unit. During the exercises, he also called several times, but only to my mother," Natalya was quoted by the news outlet.

The family said they were in constant touch with the Russian Ministry of Defense and received feedback that Roman was "alive and well." But after Roman's last call on March 15, their calls to the ministry went unanswered.

To the family's horror, they received a call on March 31 from Yenisei military registration and enlistment office, seeking samples for a DNA test.

"I waited, together they found a laboratory where my mother donated saliva. "That's it," they said, "now just wait." Of course, we understood that the news could be bad," said Natalya.

But, the family's hope that it was all a mistake was shattered when they received a call back from the ministry to inform them that the DNA matched. "On April 10, they called and said that the DNA match was 99.8 percent ... They brought it to us only on April 14, the wait was so painful that words cannot be conveyed, you would not wish this on your enemy," she added.

Roman was buried the next day. "Roman had a thermal burn - 90 percent of the body surface. No more details. The coffin was closed, which is probably why we still can’t fully believe that Roman is gone," the heartbroken sister added.

The family added that signing the contract and refusing the orders to go to Ukraine would have "serious consequences." "This is my personal opinion. And it seems to me that there are a lot of guys there [in Ukraine] who would not want to be there," she added.