In a Russian forest, the Grigoryeva sisters had found a comforting refuge in their old wooden house, their "izba".

It was an isolated spot where the twins felt safe despite the war in Ukraine and Kremlin repression.

It was there that their father, a Russian paratrooper, spoke to them of his disgust at the actions of the Russian army during the battle for Kyiv in which he took part in 2022.

Months into Russia's invasion, he was already deeply psychologically scarred, haunted by his demons.

In August 2022, AFP spoke to Anastasia and Yelizaveta Grigoryeva in Pskov in western Russia, a garrison city for the 76th Guards Air Assault Division where their father served.

The 18-year-olds asked him then if he had committed war crimes. He assured them he had never killed anyone.

According to various media, the 76th division was involved in the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, that has become a symbol of alleged Russian atrocities.

While their father was away fighting, the girls protested against the invasion in Pskov on March 6, 2022.

They were arrested and fined.

The sisters' story gave an insight into the human and moral cost of the war for Russians, even as President Vladimir Putin's regime imprisoned or exiled critics of the invasion.

The Grigoryevas swore they would continue their anti-war activism.

They said their father planned to quit the army on medical grounds.

After telling AFP in 2022 that she felt a "huge feeling of guilt" for the suffering of Ukrainians and denouncing Russian "war crimes",........

© International Business Times