Wife of Samara General Exposes 'Heroes' of Special Military Operation
Yekaterina, a member of the Public Chamber of Russia and wife of former commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army Lieutenant General Andrei Kolotovkin, recounted an unusual encounter at a gas station. She met three men dressed in uniform laden with various awards while on the road from Avdiivka, DPR. The wife of a combat general, who regularly visits the «front line area,» suspected something was amiss—the trio in khaki had far too many decorations.
Kolotovkina posted the exposé with photos on Saturday, 20 December, in her Telegram channel. What follows is in the first person.
«At night we were returning from the DPR and stopped at a gas station somewhere near Rostov. Tired and sleepy, I went in to buy coffee to perk up a bit. And then I was blinded by the gleam of heroic stars. At a table near the checkout stood three men with orders and medals. On each chest proudly shone a Hero»s Star. One of them had three at once.
Neither I nor my companions had seen anything like it. So we began examining this «iconostasis» with interest. The «heroes» were not at all embarrassed. On the contrary, their backs straightened under the weight of the awards, and their chests, from the side of the stars, seemed to bulge forward.
— Where are you from, guys? — I asked.
— We«re coming from the Special Military Operation zone, — one of them replied.
My companion, an officer from the Defense Ministry, whispered: «Fakes.»
We already understood that, unlike the cashier at the gas station, who was admiringly delighted with such guests: it«s not every day that three »heroes« drop by a gas station at once.
Anyway, I decided to continue the game. I asked to take a photo with one of them, and he, of course, didn«t refuse me. Used to the attention.
After the photo, we asked to see documents for the awards and began inquiring about their feats. The «heroes» didn«t anticipate that we were traveling in a convoy with servicemen on leave, who were in civilian clothes and knew what combat orders look like.
Naturally, the «heroes» weren«t prepared to meet real Heroes. Frightened, they started saying that they deliver humanitarian aid and the stars were given to them by the organization »Combat Brotherhood.«
We suggested calling the military police to figure out who they were and why they were moving in cars without license plates. But the «heroes» cowardly ran away.
The heroes from the front didn«t chase them or try to find out anything. They were tired and in a hurry to get home to their families. Leave is too short, and a lot of things have piled up…»
Yekaterina Kolotovkina was born in Yessentuki on 14 May 1984. She met combat officer Andrei Kolotovkin at age 18 in a restaurant. He proposed to the young student at their very first meeting, and soon the couple registered their relationship at the registry office. And at 19, Yekaterina became a mother for the first time. In total, the spouses have two sons and a daughter. Following her husband, Yekaterina moved around military towns and garrisons. The family moved to Samara after Kolotovkin«s appointment as commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army. On 1 March 2024, Yekaterina Kolotovkina announced that after 30 years of service, her husband was leaving the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Currently, the couple«s eldest son—Igor—is in the Special Military Operation. The young man worked in one of the linear police departments in Samara. Kolotovkina admitted that she was against her child becoming a contract soldier and asked him to simply serve his conscription term. But in the end, she herself packed her son a field backpack for the front.
Yekaterina entered the media space after the start of the Special Military Operation. Her project «Wives of Heroes» gained wide recognition. Now the wife of Lieutenant General is a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, head of the «Star and Lyre» foundation and the regional Committee of Families of Warriors of the Fatherland.
Most of her publications are related precisely to the topic of the Special Military Operation. Yekaterina Kolotovkina also shares thoughts on other topics. For example, on the death of rapper Pasha Tekhnik or the appearance of Instasamka in the Public Chamber.
She regularly travels to the front line area with humanitarian aid and shares in her social media impressions of what she has seen, new acquaintances, and problems that people bring to her.
