Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday received a delegation of mothers of Russian servicemen who died during the war in Ukraine, to whom he conveyed the government’s condolences for their loss.
One of the latest official Russian estimates of combat casualties, provided in September by the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, points to almost 6,000 military deaths during the first six months of the conflict, which began in February.
However, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have claimed that around 85,000 Russian servicemen have died in combat while the United States spoke of «more than 100,000 Russian casualties», between dead and wounded, before adding that the figures among the Ukrainian ranks «are probably similar».
«There are not enough words for those who have lost their sons, but I want them to know that I, as well as the government of this country, share this pain,» the Russian president said.
«Nothing can replace a child, the loss of a child, especially for a mother, to whom we owe sustenance and food,» added the president, who described as «heroes» the participants in the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian agency TASS reports.
«No one but them and their closest commanders, who are by their side, know how hard this work is and how dangerous it is for their lives,» he said.
