A Day After Putin Denied It, Russia Admits It Has Sent Untrained Fighters In The War In Ukraine
Right from the start of the ongoing war, it was widely alleged that Russia was using conscripts in Ukraine.
Several Russian soldiers who were caught in Ukraine had claimed they were unaware that they were being sent to invade the neighbouring country.
Russia had denied these allegations and on March 8, on the occasion of International Women's Day President Vladimir Putin had told the Russian people that conscripts are not taking part in his invasion of Ukraine.
"I understand how you're worrying for your beloved ones ... I emphasize that conscript soldiers are not participating in hostilities and will not participate in them," Putin had said while addressing the women of his country. "And there will be no additional call-up of reservists."
However on Thursday, for the first time, the Russian Ministry of Defense admitted that military conscripts have been involved in the invasion of Ukraine and that some were taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces.
The ministry admitted that conscripts were "discovered" in Ukraine but claimed they have already been withdrawn and returned to Russia.
"Unfortunately, several facts of the presence of conscripts in the units of the Russian armed forces involved in the conduct of a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine were discovered," Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a video.
Konashenkov claimed Wednesday that Russian conscripts have been returned to Russia. "Almost all such servicemen have already been withdrawn to the territory of Russia," he said.
But he added that some conscripts have been captured by Ukrainian forces.?
"At the same time, a sabotage group of the national battalion attacked one of the units performing the tasks of logistical support. A number of servicemen, including conscripts, were captured," Konashenkov said.
"At present, comprehensive measures are being taken to prevent the deployment of conscripts to combat areas and the release of captured servicemen," he said.
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 "punish" officials who sent them there.?
The Ukrainian government has claimed that it had killed more than 10,000 Russian soldiers in the two weeks of the war.
This includes at least two high-ranking officials.
However, the US has estimated that the Russian toll so far will be around 4,000.
Russia has so far officially acknowledged the death of around 500 of its men.
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