A comment on a post mourning Maj Sergei Krylov reads: "We are proud of you, thank you for supporting peace. Russian hero Major Krylov. RIP" - this post is no longer public

 

From early March, reports began to circulate of deaths in the 331st. It took time for bodies to be returned to Kostroma, the community where it is based, 300km north-east of Moscow.

As the funerals started, an anguished conversation began playing out on social media. Memorial walls on V'Kontakte - the Russian equivalent of Facebook - pledge "eternal memory" and feature pictures of candles.