INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Russian army on Wednesday admitted for the first time that conscripts were taking part in Moscow's military advance in Ukraine, after
President Vladimir Putin vowed only professional soldiers were there.Since Moscow poured in troops to Ukraine on Feb
24, there have been widespread reports of young conscripts fighting in the pro-Western country, with mothers of conscripts taking to social
media to look for their sons and rights groups saying they were inundated with calls from conscripts' families.On Monday, Putin said he will
not send conscripts or reservists to fight in Ukraine and that only "professional" soldiers were taking part in the conflict.The Russian
several instances of the presence of conscripts in the units of the Russian Armed Forces participating in the special military operation on
of the units performing logistical support," Konashenkov said."A number of servicemen, including conscripts, were captured," he added.He
said Moscow will take "measures to prevent sending conscripts to combat areas."Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov quickly said that before
launching the Ukraine attack, Putin had told Russian army commanders to "categorically exclude" conscripts from the conflict and vowed to
