٠٠:٠٤:٠٩Conscripts and volunteers who went to the military commissariat in Volgograd on Saturday shared their emotions after partial mobilisation began as part of the military operation in Ukraine.
"[I feel] emptiness. Like a piece of my heart being torn apart and sent somewhere very far away," the sister of a mobilised man said.
The mother of the conscript Natalia Peresypkina stated that the defence of the country needs people.
"Anyway, someone has to protect us. If not him, then who," asked the woman.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists on Wednesday, saying it was to protect the sovereignty of both Russia and the areas holding votes on joining the federation.
It came just a day after the local administrations in four regions announced plans to hold referenda; the authorities in the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR), and those set up in Zaporozhye and Kherson after they came under Russian control.
Putin said on Wednesday that he was ready to support the decisions taken, with his country prepared 'to provide the safe environment' and let the people 'express their will'.
However, on Friday, Mykhailo Podolya, advisor to the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, described the exercise as a 'propaganda show'. President Volodymyr Zelensky himself condemned the 'pseudo-referendum', while his press secretary Sergei Nikiforov claimed that the action meant there would be no chance of a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Russia: 'A piece of my heart being torn apart' - Relatives of conscripts in Volgograd
Conscripts and volunteers who went to the military commissariat in Volgograd on Saturday shared their emotions after partial mobilisation began as part of the military operation in Ukraine.
"[I feel] emptiness. Like a piece of my heart being torn apart and sent somewhere very far away," the sister of a mobilised man said.
The mother of the conscript Natalia Peresypkina stated that the defence of the country needs people.
"Anyway, someone has to protect us. If not him, then who," asked the woman.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists on Wednesday, saying it was to protect the sovereignty of both Russia and the areas holding votes on joining the federation.
It came just a day after the local administrations in four regions announced plans to hold referenda; the authorities in the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR), and those set up in Zaporozhye and Kherson after they came under Russian control.
Putin said on Wednesday that he was ready to support the decisions taken, with his country prepared 'to provide the safe environment' and let the people 'express their will'.
However, on Friday, Mykhailo Podolya, advisor to the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, described the exercise as a 'propaganda show'. President Volodymyr Zelensky himself condemned the 'pseudo-referendum', while his press secretary Sergei Nikiforov claimed that the action meant there would be no chance of a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
Conscripts and volunteers who went to the military commissariat in Volgograd on Saturday shared their emotions after partial mobilisation began as part of the military operation in Ukraine.
"[I feel] emptiness. Like a piece of my heart being torn apart and sent somewhere very far away," the sister of a mobilised man said.
The mother of the conscript Natalia Peresypkina stated that the defence of the country needs people.
"Anyway, someone has to protect us. If not him, then who," asked the woman.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists on Wednesday, saying it was to protect the sovereignty of both Russia and the areas holding votes on joining the federation.
It came just a day after the local administrations in four regions announced plans to hold referenda; the authorities in the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR), and those set up in Zaporozhye and Kherson after they came under Russian control.
Putin said on Wednesday that he was ready to support the decisions taken, with his country prepared 'to provide the safe environment' and let the people 'express their will'.
However, on Friday, Mykhailo Podolya, advisor to the head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, described the exercise as a 'propaganda show'. President Volodymyr Zelensky himself condemned the 'pseudo-referendum', while his press secretary Sergei Nikiforov claimed that the action meant there would be no chance of a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.