Vladimir Putin will meet the mothers of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine in time for the country’s celebration of Mother’s Day this weekend.
Russia has faced monumental setbacks in their invasion of Ukraine following the humiliating withdrawal of troops from the strategic southern region of Kherson earlier this month.
The Kremlin confirmed the meeting that was first reported by the Vedomosti newspaper. Mother’s Day takes place on 27 November in Russia.
“Indeed, such a meeting is planned, we can confirm,” a spokesperson for the Kremlin told reporters.
“The president often holds such meetings, they are not all public. In any case, the president receives first-hand information about the real state of affairs.”
The war in Ukraine has killed and wounded thousands of soldiers on both sides, according to the United States, and the Russian invasion has triggered the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West in years.
Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers have been sent to fight on the front line – including some of the 300,000 reservists who were called up as part of a mobilisation announced by Mr Putin in September.
A spokesperson from Vedomosti said that this year’s Mother’s Day has been given a “new impetus” thanks to the revival of the Soviet-Era title “Mother Heroine” as reported by New Izvestia.
The title is given to women who give birth to 10 or more children and are awarded 1 million rubles (£13,906). This title has already been awarded to Medni Kadyrova, the wife of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Mr Putin has yet to publicly comment on the series of recent defeats Moscow has suffered and appears to have taken a step back from being the face of the invasion.
