Russian president meets mothers of servicemen fighting in Ukraine

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin met on Friday with the mothers of servicemen taking part in Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Putin said the parents of deceased soldiers were present in the meeting and expressed his condolences, adding he "shares their pain."

He promised to provide support for every family that lost its father, son, or husband.

Putin also said life is "more complicated" than shown on TV and especially on the internet, where "nothing can be trusted."

He said he invited the mothers to get the information from them directly.

"A lot of information flows to me from different sources, but it's a completely different matter – it's your ratings, your opinion, ideas, suggestions. I will try to make sure that everything that we are going to talk about today is taken into account and used in real life to the maximum," he said.