Russian Tombstone Maker Berates Kursk Locals for Fleeing

In Russia, a man dressed in military uniform who berated men in the Kursk region for fleeing the hostilities amid Ukraine’s offensive was found to be a businessman engaged in funeral services.

Russian opposition news outlet Agentsvo later identified the man as 39-year-old St. Petersburg resident Kirill Suvorov (Vlasikov until 2020), whereas a journalist from Russian news outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda initially described him as a “military man” by mistake when he shared Suvorov’s rants on Kursk residents.

“I would like to address the male population of Kursk: what the f**k have you got confused about? Where are you going, my dears? If, f**k, all our men start backing out and leaving the cities that are going to be attacked, f*****g, and so on, what will happen? What are you doing? Can’t you take up arms?

“Well then, take some f*****g shovels, dig trenches for the boys, I don’t know, deliver food, f**k. Where are you going?” Suvorov said in the video.

Suvorov also suggested locals donate their cars to the military instead of fleeing in his video.

As the Agentsvo investigation established, Suvorov is the CEO of Granite Plant 1 in St. Petersburg and First Granite Plant in Karelia, the latter of which he owns a 25.5 percent stake.

Agentsvo also got in touch with Suvorov, where the latter reiterated his criticism of the male population in the Kursk region and said he delivers humanitarian aid in a civilian capacity. He refused to answer Agentsvo’s questions on whether he was going to join the war.

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In a photo for one of his workshops on Yandex maps, Suvorov could be seen posing alongside numerous tombstones.

Agentsvo said the workshop’s website listed services such as monuments and tombstones making, as well as cremation, burial, and “cargo 200” services – a military code word of Soviet origin during the Afghan war referring to the transportation of military fatalities.