In a massive, pre-announced meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the mothers of demobilized soldiers sent to war in Ukraine, the president said:
– I want you to know that I personally, and all the leaders of the country, share your pain, writes the Telegraph.
Video released by the Kremlin shows the president sitting at a table in a meeting room with 17 women – all with a microphone, a cup of tea and a plate of pastries in front of them.
– We understand that nothing can replace a son, especially for a mother, says Putin – who, according to the British newspaper, sometimes seems emotionally moved during the meeting, which took place in the presidential residence of Novo-Ogaryovo on the outskirts from Moscow.
– Hand picked
The Guardian, for its part, calls the meeting “carefully run”, writing that the group of mothers is hand-picked, and that none of the women present oppose the war. On the contrary, the newspaper recognizes several of the participants in the meeting as profiled supporters of the “special operation”.
In photos from the meeting, Olesja Shigina is seated closest to Putin on the left. According to The Guardian, she is an ultra-conservative Russian poet, filmmaker and activist who recently traveled to the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine to make a film in support of the war, starring Russian soldiers.
