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'It all fell on me': Russian mothers alone as Vladimir Putin's draft exiles dads
Russia-Ukraine War: Days after the call-up her husband Yaroslav Leonov grabbed his bike, took a train 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) to a city close to neighbouring Kazakhstan and cycled over the border.
Wrapped up in brightly coloured snowsuits, Yekaterina Filimonova cycles through Moscow's snow-blanketed streets with her three sons to their nursery.
Her husband used to drop them off but not anymore. Now living in exile abroad, he fled after President Vladimir Putin announced in September that Russian men were being drafted en masse to fight in Ukraine.
"He left and I got sick the next day. I was so stressed I didn't recover for a month," Filimonova, 34, told AFP.
Days after the call-up her husband Yaroslav Leonov grabbed his bike, took a train 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) to a city close to neighbouring Kazakhstan and cycled over the border.
"He didn't want to leave us," Filimonova said.
But she is not the only one facing the new burden of raising children alone. The chaotic and hurried exodus of tens of thousands of military-aged men has torn apart families and piled pressure on mothers across Russia.
There are no figures on the numbers of families impacted, but one nursery employee in Moscow told AFP on the condition of anonymity that around a third of the fathers in one group were abroad.
Read more: US plans to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine: What it means for Kyiv and Moscow
"The first month was very sad of course. It was very hard for me and it was hard for the kids," Filimonova said.
"When I'm upset, they get hysterical, they cry and they cry at night. And I realised that I have to pull myself together."
Looking to history
The splintering in her family has got her thinking about her grandmother, who was separated from her geologist husband when he was sent to Mongolia for work.
"I'm beginning to understand how she felt," Filimonova said. "I'd never thought about it before."
Now in the Serbian capital Belgrade -- a hub for exiled Russian IT workers -- Leonov is struggling too.
The software developer saw no other choice than to leave Russia in September, fearing he could be drafted.
"I didn't want to play Russian roulette," he said. "Most likely, you'll win but there's a small chance of quite a dramatic end."
In Belgrade, he reunited with an old maths teacher who left Russia shortly after Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24. They are now renting an apartment together.
But the relief of being safe has not eased the pain of separation.
"Remote children are not the same as remote colleagues," he said, half-joking. "You cannot play with children remotely."
In their cosy family apartment in Moscow, Filimonova gathers her sons so their father can read them a bed-time story in a video call.
She sent him photos of pages to read, while their young offspring hold the book, making faces at the computer.
"I hope my children understand that their daddy is here, he loves them -- even from Belgrade," he told AFP.
Russia announced the end of mobilisation in late October but many abroad fear a second wave and Yaroslav sees "risks" in returning.
He is also questioning if there's "even anything to return to", with authorities imposing controls over the tech sector and "all aspects of reality."
