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Putin promised poorly trained conscripts wouldn’t be sent to war. Now the front line has come to them
CNN ^ | Fri August 16, 2024 | Ivana Kottasová

Posted on 08/16/2024 7:43:21 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a big promise when he launched his war on Ukraine: conscripts would not be involved in combat. But as Moscow struggles to contain Ukrainian advances deeper into its territory, families of young soldiers deployed in the area are raising the alarm about their loved ones.

Messages shared in Russian Telegram channels and other social media over the past few days have revealed how unprepared Moscow was for this kind of attack, including the fact that its military had left poorly trained conscripts in charge of defending the border with Ukraine – the country Russia has been waging war on for more than 10 years.

“When the border was attacked at 3 a.m. by tanks, there were only conscripts defending themselves,” said one such message shared on Telegram by a woman who said she was a mother of a conscript soldier in Kursk, the border region that Ukrainian troops crossed into last week.

“They didn’t see a single soldier, not a single contract soldier — they didn’t see anyone at all. My son called later and said, ‘Mom, we’re in shock;,” the woman, identified only as Olga, said.

CNN has asked Russia’s defense ministry for comment, but has not received an answer.

The deployment of conscripts is a thorny issue in Russia. That’s partly because of Putin’s repeated promises that they would not be sent to fight, but also due to fact that the mothers and wives of soldiers have traditionally been an influential voice inside the country where dissent is now almost nonexistent – and many are expressing their anger.

The independent Russian news outlet Verstka published an interview with Natalia Appel, the grandmother of one Russian conscript who was serving in Kursk and is now considered missing.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Russia; Ukraine
KEYWORDS: ivanakottasova; thekursksurround
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1 posted on 08/16/2024 7:43:21 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

CNN is willing to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian life.


2 posted on 08/16/2024 7:46:09 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

I suppose that the conscripts have used their post-induction time to become more properly schooled in the art of war.


3 posted on 08/16/2024 7:50:11 AM PDT by Oscar in Batangas (An Honors Graduate from the Don Rickles School of Personal Verbal Intercourse)
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To: MinorityRepublican

putin is evil. he lies.


4 posted on 08/16/2024 7:51:45 AM PDT by Sunsong
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To: Sunsong
putin is evil. he lies.

I am so impressed by the level of intelligence your post displays.

5 posted on 08/16/2024 7:58:20 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

CNN - LOL


6 posted on 08/16/2024 7:58:46 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: PGR88

Could Russia implode?


7 posted on 08/16/2024 7:59:54 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: MinorityRepublican
How come Wolf Blitzer isn't on the scene with Breaking News coverage of the fall of Russia?
8 posted on 08/16/2024 8:04:03 AM PDT by McGruff (Are you better off than you were four years ago?)
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To: Sunsong

It has been a while since I have seen a comment from our resident neocon street preacher. C’mon, throw me a “Let it be so!”


9 posted on 08/16/2024 8:09:25 AM PDT by wildcard_redneck (He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Yes… any minute now. And they’ll replace Putin with an Ivy League educated WEF clone who will warmly embrace DC and London and the bankers to help usher in a repeat of the 90s western looting of Russia again. It’s not like he’s surrounded by hard liners who wish he would go all out.

DC fantasies are quite amazing.


10 posted on 08/16/2024 8:09:52 AM PDT by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2024... RETURN OF THE JEDI. )
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To: MinorityRepublican

My father was drafted late in WWII because of his age and having two children. Three weeks after he reported, he was on a transport headed to Japan as part of the invasion force. Without Fat Man and Little Boy, I’m fairly certain he would have died on the beach at Yokohama. He became part of the occupation force.


11 posted on 08/16/2024 8:10:55 AM PDT by Spok (If I help not myself, who would help me?)
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To: MinorityRepublican

Way, back in the late 50’s and early 60’s my friends and I played “Cowboys & Idiots”. I was a great idiot, kind of like the ones in the old comedy “F troop”., always screwing up. It was lots of fun. So, today I see Putin and think he would be better at it, only for real. Bullies and idiots generally lose eventually. Imho.


12 posted on 08/16/2024 8:13:19 AM PDT by Omnivore-Dan
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

So Ukraine is invading Russia according to the propaganda media? Why?


13 posted on 08/16/2024 8:16:00 AM PDT by MTBobcat (The “rank-and-file” are as corrupted as their leadership.)
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To: DIRTYSECRET
Could Russia implode?

There's a far higher chance Neo-marxist DC will implode and take down the United States before that happens in Russia.

14 posted on 08/16/2024 8:21:53 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: MinorityRepublican; E. Pluribus Unum; Sunsong; DesertRhino
Why is CNN acting as if this is a contradiction?

It's been talked about (for years now) that Putin wouldn't be deploying conscripts...to Ukraine.

And now that Ukraine is attacking Kursk, the Western media is all of a sudden gasping about Putin deploying conscripts to defend Russian territory outside of Ukraine.

How is any of this newsworthy?

15 posted on 08/16/2024 8:30:56 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007 (There is nothing new under the sun.)
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To: MinorityRepublican
Oh, come on, folks. None of this is happening one way or the other:

3/1/2023: Ukraine has been DESTROYED and there's nothing left

It also wasn't the first time they had been completely destroyed or "completely collapsed."

so Ukraine isn't fighting Russia, nor is Russia defending against Ukraine...Ukraine has been completely gone for well over a year, even 2 years - as we have told repeatedly by the same people who post about each subsequent "complete collapse" and that it would just be a few days before the new finally trickled out...multiple times over two years.

And Putin hasn't been sending anyone there - how many times now has he died or been incapacitated as we've seen posted on this forum over the last 2 years?

16 posted on 08/16/2024 8:42:20 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Republican Wildcat

It’s almost like the live reporting of a war is filled with propaganda on both sides, and the actual truth won’t filter out until long after it’s over.

(Shocking, isn’t it?)


17 posted on 08/16/2024 8:53:30 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007 (There is nothing new under the sun.)
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To: MTBobcat

“So Ukraine is invading Russia according to the propaganda media?”

According to everyone, including the Russians.

“Why?”

Good question. The simple answer is to hurt the Russians.


18 posted on 08/16/2024 9:03:52 AM PDT by buwaya (Strategic imperatives )
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To: MinorityRepublican

Where are they finding the manpower. The brief time I was in Sochi just about every Russian male was drunk before noon. I imagine it isn’t much better on the Ukrainian side of the border.


19 posted on 08/16/2024 9:13:33 AM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
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To: MinorityRepublican
I wonder how many of these stories were written and waiting in the pipeline before the current Uke counteroffensive?
20 posted on 08/16/2024 9:42:52 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (THE ISSUE IS NEVER THE ISSUE. THE REVOLUTION IS THE ISSUE.)
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