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Ukraine is appealing directly to the mothers and loved ones of Russian soldiers to convince them to stop fighting as casualties continue to mount amid Moscow's escalation of the conflict.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that nearly 6,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the conflict, a much higher count than the 498 deaths Russia has claimed.
"Russian mothers are losing their children in a completely foreign country," Zelenskyy said in a video address. "Think of this number: almost 6,000 Russians died, Russian military, in six days of war."
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly invoked the number of Russian fatalities and have expressed empathy for the families of those serving under President Vladimir Putin, many of whom are described as poorly trained conscripts with substandard equipment who were tricked into fighting in Ukraine.
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Leaders have also posted videos on social media of demoralized Russian troops in uniform. Some have said they were not told about the invasion, though the statements may have been made under duress.
The lack of fighting spirit was a poignant moment when Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations read aloud a text message Monday that he said was between a Russian soldier and his mother before he was killed.
"I'm not in training sessions. Mama, I'm in Ukraine," Sergiy Kyslytsya read out in Russian. "There is a real war raging here. I am afraid. We are bombing all of the cities, even targeting civilians. We were told that they would welcome us, and they are falling under our armored vehicles, throwing themselves under the wheels and not allowing us to pass."
"They call us fascists. Mama. This is so hard," he added.
To highlight the contrast of Ukrainian forces and earn Russian public support, the Defense Ministry on Wednesday urged the mothers of captured Russian soldiers to travel to Kyiv to pick up their children and gave detailed instructions on how to retrieve them.
"We ask you to deliver this message to the thousands of miserable Russian mothers, whose sons have been captured in Ukraine," the ministry wrote in the Facebook post. "We, Ukrainian people, in contrast to Putin's fascists do not make war with mothers and their captured sons," the defense ministry said. "We are waiting for you in Kyiv!"
Over the weekend, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the mothers, daughters and wives of those fighting for Russia to demand Putin to end the hostilities. Defense Minster Oleksii Reznikov appealed directly to the soldiers themselves this week.
"Russian soldier! You were brought to our land to kill and die. Do not follow criminal orders," he posted to social media. "We guarantee you a full amnesty and 5 million rubles if you lay down your arms. For those who continue to behave like an occupier, there will be no mercy."
The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, an NGO that helps military families and exposes human abuse in the Russian military, told Britain's ITV News that it has been inundated with calls from Russian mothers searching for their sons.
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"What happened to my child, is he alive? Is he captured? Where is he? Is he in Russia near the border with Ukraine or is he in Ukraine? These are the most important questions which worry parents," Alexander Latynin, a lawyer with the Committee, told the news outlet.
Fox News has reached out to the organization.
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