CHRISTINA LAMB
Her son went to fight Putin to protect her. He died on the front line at 18
The mother of one of the youngest soldiers to be killed in action is furious with her own side — and still waiting to hear from the president
Iryna Krasnokutska cries as she holds a photo of her son, Maksym Krasnokutsky, 18, who was killed in the Donetsk region
PAULA BRONSTEIN FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
The Sunday Times
At the garment factory where Iryna Krasnokutska works producing uniforms and bulletproof vests for the Ukrainian army, they have never been so busy.
A counteroffensive against the Russians has been expected for months and today President Zelensky acknowledged that it was under way. “Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine,” he said. “At which stage I will not talk in detail.”
More than anyone Krasnokutska, 46, knows the pain awaiting the families of many of the soldiers who will wear her uniforms in the fighting to come. On her phone is a photo of a handsome young man holding a tabby cat and beaming on his 18th birthday — her son Maksym. Within six months he was dead — at that point the
