Vladimir Putin tells moms of Russian troopers killed in unprovoked Ukraine battle: ‘I share your ache’

Vladimir Putin mentioned he empathizes with the moms of Russian troopers he despatched to die in an unprovoked assault on Ukraine.

With cameras rolling, the embattled Russian chief addressed a fastidiously curated gathering of greater than a dozen grieving mothers on the Kremlin Friday.

The 70-year-old president mentioned nothing can take the place of a misplaced son. “I would love you to know that I personally, and the entire management of the nation, we share your ache,” he mentioned.

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Workers Chairman Gen. Mark Milley estimates Russia and Ukraine have every misplaced 100,000 troops up to now ten months of combating. By most accounts, Russia has significantly underperformed throughout its invasion, with a chilly winter on the way in which.

Nonetheless not calling the combating in Ukraine a “battle,” Putin warned his viewers to not consider dispatches from the battle entrance.

[ A wounded animal: Putin is getting more dangerous ]

“Life is harder and various that what’s proven on TV screens and even on the Web,” he mentioned. “There are numerous fakes, dishonest, lies there.”

Putin claimed he’d spoken to Russian troops and located them to be in good spirits, regardless of experiences on the contrary.

U.Ok. Protection Secretary Ben Wallace informed the Day by day Beast Russian troops had been “demoralized, poorly educated (and) poorly outfitted” and urged Ukraine, which has been launching aggressive counter-offenses, to maintain up the depth.

“It could be within the Ukraine’s curiosity to take care of momentum by means of the winter,” Wallace mentioned.

Some moms’ teams took to social media to complain they’d been unable to get an viewers with the person who despatched their kids to battle. Sunday is Mom’s Day in Russia.

With Information Wire Providers