Russia admits some conscripted soldiers among forces sent to Ukraine - Action News
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Russia admits some conscripted soldiers among forces sent to Ukraine

Russia's defence ministry acknowledged on Wednesday that some conscripted soldiers were taking part in the conflict with Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin denied this on various occasions, saying only professional soldiers and officers had been sent in.

Defence Ministry says some conscripts serving in supply units have been taken prisoner in Ukraine

Smoke is seen rising from a Russian tank destroyed by Ukrainian forces in Luhansk region on Feb. 26 the third day of Russia's wide-ranging invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. Wednesday marked the 14th day of the invasion a day on which Russia acknowledged that some conscripts were taking part in the conflict . (Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images)

Russia's defence ministry acknowledged on Wednesday that some conscripts were taking part in the conflict with Ukraine after Russian 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 spokespersonDmitry 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.

Mothers of Russian soldiers raise concerns

Some associations of soldiers' mothers in Russia had raised concerns about a number of conscripts going incommunicado at the start of what the Kremlin is callinga "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.

A member of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces is seen walking Tuesday near remains of the Russian Sukhoi Su-25 assault aircraft crashed into a building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Sergey Bobok/AFP/Getty Images)

"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.