Russia | The Russians were eager to help the frontline soldiers – the lieutenant covered himself in blankets

In the year 2023 Russians were excited to send old blankets to their soldiers on the Ukrainian front. One in five blanket packages was addressed to one specific person: a lieutenant Kirill Gontarenko.

In total, almost 180 tons of old blankets were sent to Gontarenko, according to the independent Russian media that investigated the matter Mediazona. Another Russian media is also reporting on the case Medusa.

According to Mediazona’s report, blankets have been sent even this spring, months after attempts were made to stop the blanket campaign.

Mediazona analyze shipments using the package tracking tool found on the Russian Post website.

According to it, the package data shows that every fifth of the packages directed to the Ministry of Defense by the end of 2023, 37,901 packages to be exact, were addressed to the 30-year-old Gontarenko.

The combined weight of the packages was the same as the weight of an adult blue whale: a total of about 178 tons.

According to Mediazona’s investigation, a social media campaign has gone out of control behind the avalanche.

In November 2023, when Russian troops were about to attack Avdijivka in eastern Ukraine, identical messages began to circulate on the instant messaging service Telegram, urging Russians to send blanket packages to Lieutenant Kirill Gontarenko.

The message saidthat a hospital near the front line was in dire need of blankets for the soldiers being evacuated.

“The weather has turned cold, the wounded must be warmed up when they are evacuated [Itä-Ukrainan] From Luhansk [Venäjälle] To Rostov,” the November 5, 2023 message said. It was asked to divide it into different groups. Lieutenant Kirill Nikolajevič Gontarenko was indicated as the recipient in the postal address.

A year earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense had published, among other things Notification in Telegram, in which it said it was offering the ability to send letters and blankets to a “special operation area” for free. The packages would be delivered free of charge to logistics centers in Moscow, from where the Ministry of Defense would forward them to the front.

November the distress call quickly spread warmongers and soon also among voluntary organizations supporting the state, says Mediazona.

The request spread like wildfire, and packages were sent by numerous parties all over Russia, says Mediazona.

Its the Russians we interviewed said that they sent blankets because everyone else did too.

To the lieutenant the number of blankets and other warm packages sent just continued to grow – despite the fact that a screenshot of the messagewhere a person posing as Gontarenko asks to stop sending packages addressed to him.

“We have already collected everything we need, is it possible to delete the notification?” the message said. “Nothing more should be sent to this address, the collection has ended!”

The message is dated November 13. The year is not shown in the screenshot, but presumably the year is 2023. So the message was sent a week after the social media campaign asking for blankets had reportedly just started.

Mediazona however, according to the data collected, the sending of packages to Gontarenko was just getting up to speed. In December, blanket packages had become a trend covering the whole of Russia: only three of Russia’s 83 regions had not sent a single package to Gontarenko.

According to Mediazona’s information, there were so many blanket packages that they could not all be delivered from the sorting centers. However, more packages have been sent until at least March 2024.

It is possible that Lieutenant Gontarenko still receives patriotic cover mail today.