Their Sons Are Dying on Battlefields in Ukraine. They Still Back Russia’s War.

What the report says

The New York Times World reports from North Ossetia, a Russian region that has borne a heavy human cost in the war against Ukraine, yet where many residents still support the Kremlin’s insistence that the fighting continue until victory is achieved. The piece centers on the tension between local grief over battlefield losses and continued public backing for the war effort.

According to the report, families in the region have lost sons in the conflict, but that suffering has not necessarily translated into opposition to Moscow’s policy. Instead, many people described in the article appear to accept the official argument that the war must go on, reflecting the strength of pro-Kremlin sentiment in some parts of Russia even as casualties mount.

The article uses North Ossetia as a window into a broader question about how wartime losses affect public opinion inside Russia. The region’s experience highlights the gap that can exist between personal bereavement and political allegiance, and it adds context to the Kremlin’s efforts to sustain support for the war despite continued battlefield deaths.

More broadly, the report fits a pattern seen in conflict reporting: local communities can absorb severe losses while still remaining aligned with state messaging, especially where media access, nationalism, and wartime pressure shape the public narrative.