Vladimir Putin has ordered the conscription of an additional 133,000 young Russian men to the frontline in a move that could spark a huge revolt from furious parents in the country.
The new recruits, aged between 18 and 30, will be drafted starting tomorrow through to the end of December.
Parents are voicing growing concerns that these untrained and inexperienced conscripts could be sent directly to volatile border regions near the war zone as the conflict with Ukraine rages.
This latest draft exceeds last year’s conscription numbers, when 130,000 were called up. Earlier this year, the spring draft saw another 150,000 men added to the ranks for their mandatory one-year military service.
The Kremlin is facing increasing backlash over its use of conscripts near the frontlines, despite earlier assurances from Putin to concerned parents that recruits would not be exposed to direct danger.
One grieving mother has taken the bold step of confronting Putin, demanding to know why her 18-year-old son, an untrained conscript, was killed in the war. She publicly accused the Russian leader of breaking his promise – despite the possible risks of speaking out in such a way.
Reports indicate that many of these conscripts were stationed in the Kursk region when Ukrainian forces broke through Russian defenses. Others are believed to be positioned on the tense Belgorod border with Ukraine.
Elena Shumilova, the mother of Valentin Shumilov, expressed her anger in a letter to Putin, stating that she no longer “respected” him.
She said: “Explain to me, the mother of a conscript, how did my son die? [You] shout loudly that conscripts do not fight, but their mothers keep burying them. How does that happen?”
Her son died one week ago in Russia’s Kursk region, now partially occupied by Ukraine. He was killed by an artillery barrage with a shrapnel wound to the head.
She even claimed Putin’s promise to mothers about conscripts not fighting was a sham.
“Why are conscripts there and taking part in the [war], even on the Russian side of the border? They are pushing our children to certain death – they are still just children. They were not taught anything [before being put in harm’s way]. They shot a couple of times – is that training?”
The bereaved mother claimed the children of Putin’s officials and MPs were not sent to the war.
Instead, they were hiding abroad “and not where our children are”. She added: “My son was supposed to return on November 29. He really wanted to go home.”
