History of The Way Home

"The Way Home" – a movement of relatives of mobilized soldiers – was born in August 2023. Women from different regions of Russia, mostly loyal to the regime and not interested in politics, began to realize that the war had dragged on indefinitely – and that no one was going to bring their husbands and sons home. So they decided to fight: contacting deputies, writing to the media, going to public events. Relatives of the mobilized even developed a draft law on limiting the term of military service and sent it to the State Duma.

On December 7, 2023, "The Way Home" published a collective manifesto demanding complete demobilization. That has led the movement's Telegram channel to be marked with a "Fake" icon, and its participants are subject to attacks from both supporters and opponents of the war. They are under pressure from the authorities and security forces, their rallies are banned under the pretext of COVID protections, and propagandist Vladimir Solovyov has said that "The Way Home" was created by foreign intelligence services for subversive activities. Despite all this, the community's Telegram channel has over 39,000 subscribers. For this artlicle Cherta spoke with an activist of the movement who wished to remain anonymous. Her husband was mobilized and has been working as a driver at the front for over a year.

UPDATE: On May 31, 2024, the organization The Way Home (Путь Домой) and a member of the organization, Maria Andreyeva, were both declared "foreign agents" by the Russian Ministry of Justice.