'Act immediately': Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky makes an appeal to Russian mothers. Read here
1 min read . Updated: 12 Mar 2022, 05:57 PM IST
Premium- I want to say this once again to Russian mothers, especially mothers of conscripts. Do not send your children to war in a foreign country, Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky appeals to all mothers in Russia to stop their sons to enter the war in a bid to prevent them from being captured or killed in war-hit Ukraine. Zelensky in a recent video in Telegram asserted that ‘Moscow tightened its noose around Kyiv’ and urged all mothers in Russia to “act immediately"
"I want to say this once again to Russian mothers, especially mothers of conscripts. Do not send your children to war in a foreign country," Zelensky said in a video address released on Telegram.
"Check where your son is. And if you have the slightest suspicion that your son could be sent to war against Ukraine, act immediately" to prevent him being killed or captured, he said.
"Ukraine never wanted this terrible war. And Ukraine does not want it. But it will defend itself as much as necessary," he added.
Ukraine invites mothers to pick up Russian soldiers captured
This comes as several posts from mothers without news of their sons sent to Ukraine multiplied on social networks. Last week, the Ukraine government invited mothers of Russian soldiers captured on its territory to come and pick their children up.
The Ukrainian defence ministry published phone numbers and an email through which they could obtain information about them.
Meanwhile, On Wednesday, Russia for the first time acknowledged the presence of conscripts in Ukraine and announced that a number of them had been taken prisoner. Moscow had previously claimed that only professional soldiers were fighting there.
7,144 people evacuated from Ukrainian cities
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said that 7,144 people had been evacuated from a number of Ukrainian cities on Friday. "7,144 people have been rescued from Enerhodar, Bucha, Hostomel and Kozarovychi," Zelenskyy said in a video address on his Telegram channel.
On February 24, Russia launched a special operation after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested assistance to defend themselves from ongoing attacks by the Ukrainian troops.
(With inputs from agencies)
