Russia admits it sent young conscripts
into its Ukraine war after Putin denied
those troops were involved
Russia's army said on Wednesday that young draftees were sent to fight in its war against Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously denied that conscripts were involved in the attack.
Some of the conscripts have been captured, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
Russia's military admitted on Wednesday that young draftees were sent to fight in its war against Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that conscripts were involved in the attack.
"Unfortunately, some facts have come to light about the presence of conscript servicemen among the Russian armed forces conducting the special military operation on Ukrainian territory," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
"Practically all of the conscripts have been returned to the territory of the Russian Federation," Konashenkov added.
Konashenkov said, however, that some of the conscripts have been captured.
"In addition, one of the divisions operating toll security has been attacked by a diversionist group of the national battalion," he said, adding, "A number of military personnel, some of which conscripts, were captured in this attack."
Konashenkov continued, "Effective immediately, exhaustive measures have been taken to prevent conscripts from entering any and all combat zones, and to free captured personnel."
Earlier this week, Putin said that only "professional" Russian soldiers were sent in to invade Ukraine and that he would not send conscripts to fight, according to The Moscow Times.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday Putin ordered conscripts to be excluded from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to Russian state media.
Before Russia launched its February 24 attack on Ukraine, Putin had instructed all military commanders "to categorically exclude the involvement of conscripts for any tasks on the territory of Ukraine," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, the state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"In connection with the facts of the presence of a number of conscripts in the units of the armed forces who are participating in a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, at the direction of the President of Russia, materials have been sent to the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office to verify and legally assess the actions and punish officials responsible for failure to comply with this order," Peskov said, according to TASS.
Translations by Nikita Angarski.
Russia acknowledges conscripts were part of Ukraine operation, some are POWs
(Reuters) - Russia's defence ministry acknowledged on Wednesday that some conscripts were taking part in the conflict with Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin denied this on various occasions, saying only professional soldiers and officers had been sent in.
The ministry said that some of them, serving in supply units, had been taken prisoner by the Ukrainian army since the fighting began on Feb. 24.
Citing Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the RIA news agency said Putin had ordered military prosecutors to investigate and punish the officials responsible for disobeying his instructions to exclude conscripts from the operation.
Some associations of soldiers' mothers in Russia had raised concerns about a number of conscripts going incommunicado at the start of what Kremlin calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, suggesting they could have been sent to fight despite a lack of adequate training.
The Kremlin and military authorities had denied it until now. Last week, Russia's parliament passed a law imposing a prison term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally "fake" news about the military.
"Unfortunately, we have discovered several facts of the presence of conscripts in units taking part in the special military operation in Ukraine. Practically all such soldiers have been pulled out to Russia," the defence ministry said, promising to prevent such situations in the future.
One mother of a conscript, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her 19-year-old son's military unit was sent south to the Russian city of Kursk soon after he started his military service and was then moved to Belgorod, a town closer to the Ukrainian border, for training.
She says that judging by the few phone calls she had received, he had not yet been deployed into Ukraine and had not signed a contract to do so. "I am not sure what will happen tomorrow," she told Reuters by telephone.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alison Williams, Alex Richardson, William Maclean)
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