Russian Soldiers Unwilling To Fight In Ukraine, Families 'Left In The Dark': Report

Some Russian soldiers currently deployed in Ukraine are unwilling to join the fight, their family members told an NGO.

Svetlana Golub, the head of Soldiers’ Mothers Committee, has become the main contact point for the families of Russian soldiers who have been sent to Ukraine to join the invasion. The Soldiers’ Mothers Committee is an NGO that advocates for the rights of soldiers.

“We are getting hundreds and hundreds of calls. It’s just a sea of tears,” Golub told The Guardian.

Many of the calls came from worried relatives of those fighting in the war. In some of the calls, relatives of soldiers said their loved ones did not want to fight in the war. In one phone call, a mother said her son had told his superiors that he did not want to participate. However, he was told they had no choice.

Most of the families who called Golub also said they have not received any information about their loved ones involved in the conflict, adding that they were not aware of the military operation.

“The families are being completely left in the dark. They had no idea that a military special operation was about to happen,” Goleb said.

Russia refused to release information about the damage Ukraine inflicted on its troops until Wednesday when it revealed that 498 military personnel have been killed and 1,597 have been wounded since the invasion began on Feb. 24.

"Unfortunately, we have losses among our comrades who are participating in the operation," Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said. "The information spread by many Western and individual Russian media about the supposedly 'innumerable' losses of the Russian force is deliberate disinformation."

Ukrainian officials have set up a Telegram channel called “Find Your Own” where they post graphic photographs or videos of Russian troops who have been injured or killed in the conflict. The channel was launched to help identify captured or killed Russian soldiers.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has also set up a hotline and a website where family members of captured or killed Russian soldiers can call. The mothers of the soldiers would be invited to Kyiv to collect their sons.