Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday met with mothers of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine and claimed that Ukrainian servicemen who refuse to go fighting are shot in front of the ranks.
"They (Ukrainian commanders) pay no regard to losses at all. And those who behave incorrectly, as they believe, are shot in front of the ranks. Our guys saw it with their own eyes," Putin said adding that five Ukrainian soldiers who left their positions were executed recently.
Speaking to a mother of a Russian serviceman who was killed in the Mykolaiv region, Putin said that her son's life was meaningful.
"We are all mortal, we are all in God's hands, and someday we will all leave this world. It's unavoidable. The question is how we lived," the Russian President said.
"Your son lived (for real). His goal has been achieved."
The meeting in the Kremlin with more than a dozen women came as uncertainty persists over whether enlistment efforts may resume in the face of recent battlefield setbacks.
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