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Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud. Every week, a few of our favourite writers read out their

articles from the issue. I'm Zindar you. This week we're joined by Jade McLean,

who writes about the Russian wives and mothers turning on Putin because they don't know where their husbands and sons are.

Lucy Dunn, the spectator's social media editor,

asks whether pharmacists could be one of the answers to the NHS crisis.

And finally, we hear from Graham Thompson,

who writes about protest songs.

First up is Jade McGlynn.

The women of Varanage are very busy these days.

Across the Russian city, aunties are busy sewing boots and winter clothing.

Relatives are busy crowdfunding for night goggles and drones. Wives are busy demonstrating outside military bases.

Mothers are busy making preparations to travel 150 miles south-west

where they will cross the border into Ukraine to find and bring home the broken bodies of their abandoned sons.

The wives and mothers of Varanesh are not alone in their efforts or in their demands that the authorities return their under-equipped and under-trained men.

In neighbouring Kusk region, relatives of Mobiks, men called up for mobilisation to Ukraine in September, staged a protest on the Russian-Ukrainian border.

In Dagestan, women played a key role in the demonstrations that followed Vladimir Putin's call for mobilization.

The protest only died down after the local governor promised that men without military experience would not be drafted.

Ever the self-preservationist, Putin gave governor's responsibility for mobilisation efforts.

This meant he could deflect blame, using local government as a shield from the inevitable backlash.

His tactic has worked in some places, like Vallogda in northern Russia,

where mothers have been bombarding the governor with messages to bring their men home.

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