“We share your pain.” These are the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who this Friday met with the mothers of some soldiers who are fighting in what he insists on calling a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
In anticipation of Mother’s Day, which will be celebrated in Russia this Saturday, Putin received 17 mothers from different parts of Russia and ethnic groups at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo. At a long table laden with tea and cakes, Putin talked to the women for more than two hours, listening to their stories and assuring them that the country will support their families.
????????I would like you to know that I personally and the entire leadership of the country share your pain. We understand that nothing can replace the loss of a child, especially a mother,” the Russian leader was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Putin holds a meeting with the mothers of the military pic.twitter.com/rdFSgJtzTx
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Putin thanked the children of the 17 women for defending Novorossiya, the “New Russia,” an area that included part of Ukraine in the Russian empire. “Some people die from vodka and their lives go unnoticed. But his son lived and achieved his goals. He did not die in vain, ”he told one of the women.
The Russian leader took the opportunity to dismiss allegations that Russian ethnic minorities were called up in greater numbers to fight in Ukraine. “Everyone is the same, they all help each other and understand that their life depends on mutual help and support,” he explained.
The conversation was not all praise and the Russian leader asked the women to “Don’t believe everything you see on TV or on the internet”???????? “Nothing can be trusted there,” he warned, adding that there is “a lot of falsification, deceit, lies and attacks on information.”
Putin is being accused of choosing the women carefully to avoid more sensitive issues being raised during the meeting, which appears to serve to calm criticism of the Russian mobilization. According to Reuters, most made complaints, but they focused on minor issues such as the lack of clothing for the soldiers or the need to send more drones to the war front.
Before the meeting, Olga Tsukanova, one of the leaders of the Council of Wives and Mothers, demanded that Putin meet “real” women. “Vladimir Vladimirovich, are you a man or what? Do you have the courage to meet face to face, openly, not with pre-chosen women who are in your pocket, but with real women who have traveled from different cities to find you?
A group of Russian women went on a mission to the Ukrainian border to bring back their wounded husbands.
In Russia, some groups of mothers of soldiers have been vocal in criticizing their sons being sent to war with little training and equipment. Recently, a group of more than 20 women went to a military unit in Belgorod, on the Russian-Ukrainian border, to recover their husbands and family members injured in combat.
Source: Observadora
