Putin was shown in recordings meeting 17 women at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow to mark Sunday's Russian Mother's Day, sitting around a table laden with tea, cakes and berries, and listening to their stories for over two hours. Protests against the war and the enlistment drive have been crushed by force. Hundreds of thousands more have fled Russia to escape the draft, and dissatisfaction with soldiers' lack of equipment or training or the chaotic nature of the mobilisation can be found across social media. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have been sent to fight in Ukraine - including some of the more than 300,000 called up as part of a mobilisation announced in September. Tens of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the conflict sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the United States. LONDON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin spoke on Friday to a carefully selected group of mothers of Russian soldiers sent to fight in Ukraine who praised his leadership while he told them their sons had not died in vain.
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