Russia

The relatives of Russian servicemen fighting in Ukraine have accused President Vladimir Putin of avoiding them after they were not invited to a meeting between the Kremlin chief and soldiers’ families reportedly set to take place on Friday.  Instead, family members, who also claim to have been tailed by Russian security services in recent days, have accused Putin of ignoring their concerns, claiming that Friday’s meeting would likely be attended by handpicked representatives and Kremlin plants. “Vladimir Vladimirovich, are you a man or what? Do you have the courage to look us in the eye, not with hand-picked women and mothers in your pocket, but with real women, who have traveled from various cities here to meet with you?” Olga Tsukanova, the president of Russia’s Council of Wives and Mothers, asked in a video message posted on Telegram.

Groups advocating for soldiers and their families have grown increasingly vocal since the Kremlin’s September announcement of a “partial” mobilization drive that saw thousands of men drafted into the Russian army. “This is a very difficult time,” said Valentina Melnikova, the secretary of Russia’s Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers.

“We’ve never had thousands of requests for help in a week before.” But rather than having their calls answered, soldiers' rights groups claim to have been shut out as well as harassed by the Russian authorities.“Today, from morning until late in the evening, we were followed.

They just put on masks to hide their faces.

And, seeing the camera in our hands, they turned their backs and left,” wrote another group, the Council of Mothers and Wives, in a social media post.“This can only be the work of the secret services.

Is that what they get paid for?” the post added. Russia’s Council of Mothers and Wives has over 500 active members, according to Tsukanova, and has been demanding transparency from the Defense Ministry over soldiers' whereabouts as well as permission to speak openly about the problems of conscription and mobilization without criminal consequences. It had invited Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to its roundtable discussion in Moscow on Sunday, but he did not attend. Putin’s apparent determination to avoid the activists may be related to his ill-fated meeting with relatives of the victims of the Kursk submarine disaster just months into his presidency.

The event, which was widely seen as a PR catastrophe for the new leader, saw him publicly heckled by attendees. The Russian president has increasingly distanced himself from the ongoing war in Ukraine, making only a handful of public appearances at military facilities since the invasion began — once at a military hospital as well as a visit to a training ground for reservists in Ryazan. Despite not being invited to Friday’s meeting, the Council of Mothers and Wives has continued to make public overtures to the Russian president, calling on him to engage with real grieving mothers and anxious family members. “We are here in Moscow, ready to meet with you.

We are waiting for your reply! Or will you hide again?” Tsukanova asked.





Unlimited Portal Access + Monthly Magazine - 12 issues-Publication from Jan 2021


Buy Our Merchandise (Peace Series)

 


Contribute US to Start Broadcasting



It's Voluntary! Take care of your Family, Friends and People around You First and later think about us. Its Fine if you dont wish to contribute and if you wish to contribute then think about the Homeless first and Feed them. We can survive with your wishes too :-). You can Buy our Merchandise too which are of the finest quality.

Debit/Credit/UPI

UPI/Debit/Credit

Paytm


STRIPE


Russia Calls U.K. Courts ?A Farce? Over Assange Case


Lukashenko Says Helped Russia Stop Concert Gunmen From Fleeing to Belarus


Russian Security Chiefs Blame Concert Attack on Ukraine, West


[Russia] - Ukraine Says Weekend Missile Attack Damaged 4 Russian Ships


Moscow Court Remands Eighth Suspect in Concert Hall Attack


Moscow Concert Attack: What We Know


Russia?s FSB Says Bomb Attack Plotter Killed in Blast During Arrest Attempt


Russia Extends Evan Gershkovich?s Pre-Trial Detention Ahead of Arrest Anniversary


Ukrainian Shelling of Russia's Belgorod Region Injures 5


Russian Rights Chief Says Torturing Concert Attack Suspects ?Inadmissible?


[Russia] - Putin Says 'Radical Islamists' Behind Moscow Concert Attack


Moscow Court Remands 3 More Suspects Over Concert Hall Attack


?Endless Wave of Violence?: Leading Russian Anti-Torture Activist on Concert Attack Suspects? Treatment


What Was Putin Doing During the Moscow Concert Hall Attack


[Russia] - Siberian Teenagers Assaulted Over Unconventional Hairstyles


Jailed Kremlin Critic Kara-Murza's Wife Urges Prisoner Swaps


Kyrgyzstan Warns Citizens Against Travel to Russia After Concert Attack


[Russia] - Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv Wounds 9


Binance Crypto Firm?s Successor in Russia Announces Closure


[Russia] - Central Asian Teen Hailed for Saving Dozens from Moscow Auditorium Attack


'Kill Them All,' Ex-Russian President Medvedev Says of Concert Hall Gunmen


Kremlin Refuses to Comment on Islamic State Links to Moscow Attack


Russia?s FSB Thwarted Attack on Putin Campaign Office ? Mediazona


Russia Arrests Gold Mine Director After Collapse Traps Workers


7 Wounded in Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv


[Russia] - Russian Court Remands 4 Suspects Over Concert Hall Attack


[Russia] - Russian Opposition Blasts Putin's Broken Security Promises After Moscow Attack


Day of Mourning in Russia as Toll From Concert Hall Massacre Climbs to 137


[Russia] - Kyiv Says 2 Russian Ships Hit in Crimea Strikes


[Russia] - Putin Allies Demand Return of Death Penalty After Moscow Attack


[Russia] - 'Terrorists Have No Nationality' Tajik President Tells Putin


Kyiv and Ukraine's Lviv Region Report 'Massive' Russian Attack, No Casualties


[Russia] - Russia Says It Shot Down Ukraine Missiles Fired at Crimea


Putin Wants To Blame Ukraine for Moscow Attack ? Zelensky


?It Could Have Been Me?: Russians Mourn Victims of Deadly Concert Hall Attack


Russian State Media Release Interrogation Videos of Concert Attack Suspects


Spacecraft Carrying First Belarus Woman Cosmonaut Lifts Off


[Russia] - Moscow Concert Attack: What We Know


[Russia] - Russian Army Claims Seized Ukrainian Village Near Bakhmut


Putin Vows Retribution for 'Barbaric' Moscow Attack


Russia Arrests Concert Hall Gunmen as Death Toll Rises


World Leaders Condemn Russian Concert Hall Attack


[Russia] - One Dead, Oil Refinery on Fire After Drone Attacks in Russia


[Russia] - At Least 60 Killed, 145 Injured in Mass Shooting Outside Moscow


Islamic State Group Claims Russia Gun Attack


[Russia] - Timeline of Attacks in Moscow Since 1999


U.S. Says No Sign of Ukraine Role in ?Terrible? Moscow Attack


[Russia] - Russia Jails Man 23 Years Over 'Railway Explosion' Plot


Russian Rescuers Hope to Reach Trapped Miners ?In Coming Days?


Russia Adds ?LGBT Movement? to ?Terrorists and Extremists? List


Russia's Central Bank Keeps Rates at 16% Amid Stubborn Inflation


[Russia] - Kremlin Planning New Mobilization for Kharkiv Offensive-- Vyorstka


[Russia] - Russia's FSB Says Detained 7 Pro-Ukraine Partisans in Moscow


[Russia] - Kremlin Says Russia in a 'State of War'


[Russia] - Russian Navy Fired on Civilian Fishing Trawler, Killing Sailors-- Dozhd


Woman Killed in Ukrainian Strike on Russia's Belgorod


Russia Attacks Ukraine With Deadly Barrage, Zelensky Appeals for Aid


[Russia] - Siberia's Krasnoyarsk to Shutter Prisons After Inmates Sent to Fight in Ukraine


Russia Sentences ?Volga Maniac? Serial Killer to Life in Prison


[Russia] - Russia Aborts Spacecraft Launch Seconds Before Liftoff





66