Shortly before Mother's Day, which takes place this Sunday, November 27 in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with a group of women presented as mothers of Russian soldiers.
During this filmed interview which took place on Friday, the head of the Kremlin said he shared their pain and promised that he would do his utmost to report and implement their demands.
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If nobody knew before the meeting the identity of the mothers who would be present, many assumed that only interlocutors at the hand of power would be invited.
And these observers were not mistaken.
On Twitter, the military historian Cédric Mas demonstrates that the mothers and wives invited had already appeared on television during other propaganda demonstrations.
As you can see in the image above, the resemblance is striking.
The woman with short blonde hair, identified as Nadezhda Uzunova by BFMTV, was already present during the celebrations given after the annexation by Russia of four Ukrainian territories at the end of September.
Pro-Kremlin profiles
Dressed in the same black dress with a white lace scarf, the woman who is president of a pro-war association funded by the Kremlin said during a speech: "
Our soldiers must protect us and we, the mothers, we must be united at the back to promote victory.
We must be strong, but wise, because it is we who educate our heroes, the defenders of the fatherland
”.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: faced with the grievances of the mothers of soldiers, Putin wants to stem a wave of anger with political airs
According to the historian, most of the women invited to this propaganda tea would be ministry employees, actresses and even elected officials of the Putin regime.
On this photo, it is possible to distinguish several of them.
There is also a certain Olga Beltseva, who is actually an elected official from Moscow, a member of the party of the head of state, "
United Russia
" and Yulia Belekhova, a politician.
Dr Ian Garner, author of a book on Putin's fascist youth groups, shared the profile of another mum, who he says regularly meets Vladimir Putin: "
Just another regular hockey mum who happens to be also be the head of the "Popular Front for Russia", an "activist" group linked to the state
", he quipped in his tweet.
“Who are these mothers”
In addition to the participation of pro-Kremlin personalities in this meeting, another interesting fact was noted.
During the exchange, one of the mothers displayed a photo of her son, who allegedly sacrificed himself heroically against the Ukrainians.
“
It turns out that his son, a member of a separatist militia, died in 2019 in a hospital in Luhansk
”, points out historian Cédric Mas, supporting documents.
For its part, the committee of soldiers' mothers, active since 1989, complains that it was not invited.
“
Who are these 'mothers'?
How were they chosen?
I don't know what they talked about or how, but frankly this masquerade doesn't interest me
, ”launched Valentina Melnikov, the spokesperson for military mothers within the NGO, in an interview with
L' Express
.
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