A group of mobilized Russian soldiers’ families has demanded that President Vladimir Putin bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
For weeks, members of Put’ Domoi (Way Home), a group of mostly wives and mothers of mobilized soldiers, have called for the return of their loved ones from extended service on the front lines.
But on Monday, they accused Putin of “driving people to the brink” and pressed for an end to what the Kremlin insists on calling a “special military operation.”
“We Russians have no hope left under your leadership… sit at the negotiating table,” the group said in a message addressed to the Russian leader.
“Let us live in peace! Or go to the frontline yourself and die there,” it added.
Some 300,000 reservists were called up to boost Moscow’s troop numbers in Ukraine as part of Putin’s “partial” mobilization drive that he announced in September 2022.
Put’ Domoi’s message, shared on the messaging app Telegram, was accompanied by a video of what appeared to be a mobilized Russian soldier calling himself Alexander and expressing dismay over the fact that Putin ignored the group’s request to impose a one-year service limit for mobilized troops.
“I watched ‘Direct Line’ with our president… and there’s no hope, no signs that our mobilized boys will return home in the foreseeable future,” Alexander said.
Last week, Putin fielded dozens of hand-picked questions from journalists and ordinary Russians during his combined “Direct Line” call-in program and press conference.
“How cynical do you have to be to continue this mayhem and put on a brave face?” Put’ Domoi asked the Russian president in its message on Telegram. “Will you not stop until you kill all the young people?”
“Will you be having a good time ringing in the New Year with your close ones and a glass of champagne? Well, not our boys.”