Russian Defense Ministry expands main military cemetery amid war casualties
The Russian Ministry of Defence has taken over 17 hectares of the Pirogovsky forest park in the Mytishchi urban district of the Moscow Region to extend the "Pantheon of Defenders of the Fatherland" military cemetery, as reported by Novaya Gazeta Europe.
The Mytishchi town administration had previously confirmed the Defence Ministry's plans to expand Russia's largest military cemetery. In February, a local group on the social network VKontakte posted a statement by the head of the district, Yulia Kupekaya, about transferring 17 hectares of forestland adjacent to the "Pantheon" to the Ministry of Defence, an act not previously made public.
In comments, representatives of the district administration explained that the decision was initiated by the Russian Ministry of Defence, claiming the ministry would use 10 hectares for the "Pantheon" expansion and 7 hectares to create a municipal cemetery.
However, the land being seized is surrounded by Defence Ministry facilities, currently preventing access, including to the future municipal cemetery site, the administration of Mytishchi noted. Meanwhile, district authorities claim that the area was not part of the forest park.
The publication notes that the federal military memorial cemetery, which later became the "Pantheon of Defenders of the Fatherland," was opened in June 2013. Since then, until 1 July, there have been only 353 burials. However, a significant number of new graves appeared at the cemetery following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine from 24 February 2022 – "with 900 additional graves in the section for those killed on the Ukrainian front."
Locals from a village adjacent to the memorial say that burials with military honours take place daily at the cemetery.
The cemetery itself is closed for public visitation, as it is a Russian Ministry of Defence property. Before the planned expansion, its official area was 52.24 hectares, which was expected to accommodate 40,000 burials over the next 200 years. However, the Defence Ministry had plans to expand the memorial as early as 2023, according to the publication.
Among others, the cemetery hosts the grave of mercenary leader and Wagner Group member Dmitry Utkin, who died in August 2023 in a plane crash along with the chairman of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) reports that Russian losses in the war against Ukraine have exceeded 470,000 military personnel, with more than 1,200 Russians destroyed on just 3 May.
Additionally, Russian media sources identified the names of over 50,000 Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine as of early April, including 3,354 officers.
In February 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced for the first time since the beginning of the war the losses of the AFU, stating a figure of 31,000 people.