Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Friday the mothers of soldiers he has sent to wars in Ukraine.

– The entire leadership in this country shares their pain. We understand that nothing can ease the pain of losing a son.

Putin said this to the mothers present in a pre-recorded TV broadcast from the meeting, which Reuters has posted.

– We want to make sure you don’t feel forgotten, he continued.

At the end of September, President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization of Russian men to support the forces in the country’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

That was not welcomed by several, and many Russians fled the country.

I then update on British intelligence from the British Ministry of Defence, they claim that the Kremlin is concerned that the families of those sent to fight must stand out.

– The Kremlin will likely be concerned that an increasing number of reservists’ families are prepared and willing to take the risk of being arrested by demonstrating against the conditions in which their family members serve, the British claim.

– This meeting is extremely important, says Charlotte Flindt Pedersen, director of the Foreign Policy Society in Copenhagen, to VG.

Flindt Pedersen believes that the support from mothers and wives of the soldiers is important for Putin.

– Support for Putin is traditionally greatest among older women. He thus undermines his own voter base when he carries out an unpopular mobilization.

– Soldier mothers have great legitimacy in the population. At the same time, they are very specific in the way they work, she says further.

Angry mother was nowhere to be found

– The president meets some mothers who have been ripped out of his pocket, who want to ask the right questions and thank him, says Olga Tsoukanova to the AFP news agency.

She is one of several mothers who have become activists, and have traveled over 90 million from Samara to Moscow to be put, writes AFP.

Her 20-year-old son is due to do military service, and she wants to make sure that he will not be sent to Ukraine.

– I am not alone. Invite us, Vladimir, answer our questions, she says.

Organize

– The soldier mothers probably have clear demands both for those who are mobilized and those who are not to be mobilized, says Flindt Pedersen and continues:

– They have always been on the pitch with political and legal demands. Among other things, they have told the young people that they can refuse to fight if they don’t want to.

According to British intelligence, there is now great discontent among the mobilized reservations, as it is several who should not have been mobilized due to serious, chronic health problems.

Also poor equipment and trainingas well as confusion around whether they should have been mobilized at all is discussed, as well as that they take part in combat missions characterized by heavy losses is a theme, the British claim.