106 families of Russian soldiers sent to fight in the invasion of Ukraine have protested at the Kremlin in Moscow, demanding to know what has happened to their relatives. They also delivered a written appeal to the Russian Defence Ministry.
In the letter they said:
"We demand to find our loved ones, to add them to the lists of prisoners of war who have gone missing."
The families accuse Moscow of blocking information on those killed or captured amid a media blackout regarding military losses in what is now the sixth month of war.
Anna Danilova, one of those protesting, was quoted by Radio Free Europe as saying:
"On April 3 I got a message from the other side (Ukraine) that he was killed. They (the Russian soldiers) had no telephones or documents with them. I immediately called the military base. I said I was informed that my husband died, and they responded: 'No, no, no, don't worry. They're already pulling them out.' And then on the 4th, the deputy political officer calls and says, 'He burned to death, there's nothing to collect.'"
While another, Irina Chistyakova, said she had not received the full story about her 19-year-old son. She said:
"In early June the commissioner for human rights Tatyana Moskalkova received a response from the Defence Ministry, that my son is alive and being held illegally by the Ukrainian side. How did he get there, what does 'illegally' mean? He illegally wound up in Ukraine. He was sent there on the criminal order of commanders and under false pretences. It was [supposed to be] the border with Ukraine, not across the border. They seriously deceived him and the others."
She added:
"My life is in danger, and that danger comes directly from the military. One colonel told me: military men are psychos, if you push this, something irreparable will happen, … I responded that this is my son and that scaring me with a bullet to the head is stupid. The colonel responded that he was not scaring me, but warning me, that military men are psychos."
It is unclear how many Russian casualties have occurred during the conflict, but some estimates suggest between 35,000 and 50,000 of both killed and seriously injured. Many of the soldiers are taken as conscripts from the poorest parts of Russia and so a protest in central Moscow will be a worrying sign for the Putin regime.
[Based on reportig by: MSN]
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