MIKHAIL KLIMENTEV / AFP
In Russia, women urge Putin to stop sending men “to the slaughterhouse” (photo by Vladimir Putin on March 9, 2023)
RUSSIA – Russian women are calling on Vladimir Putin to save their loved ones. According to CNN, a group of Russian wives and mothers have appealed to the Russian president to stop sending their husbands and sons “to the slaughterhouse,” either to the front lines in Ukraine, to assault groups without training or proper care.
CNN, which says the information provided could not be independently verified, references a video shared by Russian independent broadcaster Telegram SOTA. This shows women holding up a March 11, 2023 sign that reads “580 Separate Howitzer Artillery Division.”
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Request for equipment, better conditions and better training
According to media reports, they denounce that their loved ones were “forced to join assault groups” in early March despite having trained for just four days since they were mobilized in September.
“Our [hommes] are sent like lambs to the slaughterhouse to storm fortified areas – five at a time against 100 heavily armed enemy men,” said one, adding that her husband “is in contact with the enemy.
“They are willing to serve their homeland, but not as stormtroopers in the specialization for which they were trained. We ask you to withdraw our men from the line of contact and supply the gunners with equipment and ammunition. ask these women.
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“I’m leaving because I’m not crazy”
Many Russians, mostly men, fled Russia as of September 2022 for fear of being mobilized. Towards the end of September, many men of military age told why they fled their country.
For example, one of them told AFP that he had waited “twelve hours” to drive to Mongolia. “I’m scared of mobilization,” said another, a 23-year-old Muscovite who booked a flight as soon as Vladimir Putin announced Sept. 21.
“I’m leaving because I’m not crazy and I don’t want to die,” said a Russian interviewed by BFMTV at an airport. “I feel like they’re trying to force me to die for a cause I don’t believe in, a cause I have nothing to do with,” he laments.
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