Russia's Putin comforts mothers of soldiers fighting in Ukraine - The Washington Post

“I privation you to cognize that I personally, the full enactment of the country, we stock your pain,” Putin said, pausing and clearing his throat. “We recognize that thing tin regenerate the nonaccomplishment of a son, a child, particularly for the mother, to whom we each beryllium the birth.”

“I privation you to cognize that we stock this symptom with you and, of course, we volition bash everything truthful that you bash not consciousness forgotten,” Putin added.

He told 1 parent whose lad died successful Ukraine that “we are each mortal, and someday we volition each permission this world.”

“It’s unavoidable. The question is however we lived,” Putin said. “Some dice and it’s not adjacent noticeable … But your lad lived. His extremity has been achieved. In this sense, of course, his beingness turned retired to beryllium significant, with a result.”

The gathering comes arsenic grievances of mean Russians, particularly those who person been precocious mobilized to replenish depleted ranks, are starting to participate the nationalist space, contempt the sedate ineligible consequences for criticizing the war.

In caller months, dozens of videos recorded by soldiers oregon their relatives person emerged online, decrying the caller mobilization and abysmal conditions immoderate soldiers find themselves successful connected the beforehand line, with debased morale, mediocre instrumentality and deficiency of wide strategy connected the battlefield.

The soldiers spoke of being abandoned by commanders and forced to rotation successful the woods without nutrient oregon reinforcements. Some declaration soldiers called up earlier successful the run arsenic portion of regular forces complained they were exhausted and hadn’t been rotated retired for months connected end.

The mobilization effort, which officially lasted for astir a period and a half, saw a reported 318,000 recruits thrown into conflict arsenic Russia tries to clasp crushed against a two-pronged Ukrainian counteroffensive up of the acold wintertime that volition further complicate combat.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon’s apical general, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, said that implicit 100,000 Russian troops were believed to person been killed oregon injured since the Feb. 24 invasion. Tens of thousands of men person near the country to debar being drafted. The Russian Defense Ministry officially claimed it mislaid astir 6,000 soldiers arsenic of September this twelvemonth and hasn’t updated the numbers since.

Putin utilized the gathering arsenic an accidental to reiterate the acquainted database of accusations against the West, which helium said uses Ukrainians “as cannon fodder” successful the combat against Russia.

“This is not an exaggeration, they don’t attraction astir the losses and they conscionable sprout those who don’t behave the close mode successful beforehand of different soldiers, those who garbage to fight,” Putin claimed without evidence. “They person a antithetic motivation cognition and this conscionable 1 again proves we are dealing with a neo-Nazi regime.”

Even earlier the Friday meeting, Russian activists formed uncertainty connected whether the Kremlin would let a frank speech with mothers and wives whose loved ones are missing oregon dead.

Groups similar the Council of Mothers and Wives, which has pleaded with officials to extremity mobilization and bring the men backmost home, and the seasoned advocacy radical the Soldiers’ Mothers Committee, which processes thousands of complaints from soldiers and their household members, were not invited. The Kremlin lone broadcast parts of the gathering and it wasn’t live.

“We are not astatine each funny successful this,” Valentina Melnikova, the caput of the Union of Soldiers’ Mothers Committee, said erstwhile asked if her radical would’ve sent a typical if invited. Melnikova said successful an interrogation past week that the magnitude of calls the committee received aft mobilization was announced accrued by “one 100 times.”

The radical has been progressive for implicit 2 decades, helping hopeless mothers find their sons during the Chechen wars. Melnikova recalled however backmost past parents managed to creep into subject units and smuggle retired dozens of conscripts, thing unimaginable successful 2022 arsenic the Kremlin wields a overmuch tighter grip connected powerfulness and subject structures.

“We told parents, ‘go and get them. You tin kidnap them, you tin get them retired done a spread successful the fence. You tin bribe an officer, springiness him cognac,’” she said. “Now things are different, it’s a antithetic authorities with antithetic laws. It’s a wholly antithetic generation. I was definite my children’s procreation who grew up connected the internet, would beryllium autarkic and wouldn’t beryllium influenced by propaganda truthful much. But they don’t attraction 1 bit.”

“It’s brainsick that the speech is inactive not public, adjacent with the mothers who were cleared to spot Putin,” the Council of Mothers and Wives said successful the group’s Telegram blog. “Are they frightened that immoderate mothers volition inactive blurt thing out?”

The co-head of the council, Olga Tsukanova, has a 20-year-old lad who is simply a conscript successful the confederate Astrakhan portion of Russia. Tsukanova says his commanders tried doubly to nonstop him to Ukraine contempt the Kremlin assurances that young, inexperienced men undergoing mandatory work won’t beryllium involved.

The constitution of attendees to the televised gathering suggested it was orchestrated to debar immoderate outbursts of nationalist choler successful Putin’s presence, arsenic women successful the country were chiefly functionaries from pro-government movements, mid-level officials, and members of the ruling United Russia enactment acceptable up by Putin himself.

One of the guests, Nadezhda Uzunova, is the determination person of “Brothers successful Arms” radical that immunodeficiency Russian soldiers successful Ukraine, who precocious spoke astatine a Kremlin-organized performance connected the Red Square successful Moscow successful enactment of the amerciable annexation of 4 eastbound Ukrainian regions.

“Like each Russian mother, I, of course, interest astir my children. But fearfulness kills faster than a bullet, and we should not beryllium acrophobic but alternatively we request to unite and consolidate the feminine energy, the feminine powerfulness that we person to make that reliable rear,” Uzunova said from the signifier astatine the time.

Another attendee, Zharadat Agueva, has 2 sons who are some warring successful Ukraine: Ismail is the high-ranking commandant of the Chechen Zapad-Akhmat battalion and Rustam is the caput of a constabulary section successful the republic, notorious for abuses against detainees.