Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday told mothers of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine that he “shares the pain” of those who have lost their children and urged them not to believe the “lie” about the invasion.
“I want you to know that I personally share your pain. We know that nothing can replace the loss of a child,” Putin said.
According to news site EuroNews, the Russian leader also added that Mother’s Day, celebrated in Russia this Sunday, will be marked this year by “a sense of unease and unease” among women whose “thoughts will be with their boys.”
Putin’s meeting with the soldiers’ mothers took place at the leader’s residence outside Moscow and was the first of its kind since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24. The Kremlin rarely talks about the losses suffered in Ukraine, and the meeting, which took place this Friday, comes after weeks of criticism on social media from relatives of soldiers mobilized in early autumn.
Many soldiers’ wives and mothers blamed the authorities for not properly training and equipping them before being sent to the front, EuroNews reports.
“Life is more complicated than what you see on TV or on the Internet, where you can’t trust anything. A lot of false information, a lot of lies,” Putin replied.
The Russian president also said he occasionally talks on his cell phone to soldiers sent to Ukraine and said he was “surprised” by their “state of mind.”
“They give me reason to say that they are heroes, it’s true,” he added.
