Vladimir Putin has sparked outrage by gifting electric meat grinders to the grieving mothers of slain soldiers.
The tone-deaf gesture – orchestrated by Putin’s ruling party, United Russia – was met with an online firestorm of criticism, as the term ‘meat grinder’ is widely used to describe the brutal fate of Russian troops sent to die in his high-casualty war.
The gifts were distributed in Murmansk, but instead of offering solace, they have been branded as heartless and grotesque, with critics accusing the Kremlin of mocking the immense sacrifices made by soldiers and their families.
In an attempt to contain the backlash, Russian officials filmed a bereaved mother thanking them for her bizarre present.
‘I thank United Russia for the presents, for the beautiful bouquet,’ she said in a staged video. ‘And you gave me a meat grinder, which I needed.’
She insisted she had ‘wanted to buy one’, seemingly attempting to justify the gift.
The pro-Kremlin Defenders of the Fatherland organisation in Murmansk defended the handouts, claiming: ‘Our duty and responsibility is to surround the mothers of the Heroes of the Fatherland with attention and support, not in words, but in deeds.
‘We strive to be close to these strong women, share their experiences and provide assistance in difficult times.’
Grieving mothers of fallen Ukrainian soldiers were given meat grinders in a move that has sparked fury online
In an attempt to contain the backlash, Russian officials filmed a bereaved mother thanking them for her bizarre present
The term ‘meat grinder’ is widely used to describe the brutal fate of Russian troops sent to die in Putin’s high-casualty war
The pro-Kremlin Defenders of the Fatherland organisation in Murmansk defended the handouts
Despite the uproar, local officials hit back at critics, claiming the outrage was manufactured.
Maxim Chengaev, the mayor of Polyarnye Zori, condemned those who dared to question the logic behind giving meat grinders to grieving mothers.
‘We urge you not to support inhumane and provocative interpretations,’ he said, insisting the women were ‘happy’ with their practical gifts.
‘The most important thing for us is that the women themselves are happy with a practical gift that will be useful in the household.’
However, the grim irony of gifting meat grinders – a term synonymous with the slaughter of Russian soldiers – has only fueled further outrage.
Putin’s forces have suffered catastrophic losses in Ukraine, with tens of thousands of men thrown into battle with little regard for their lives.
Soldiers are sent to die en masse in human wave attacks, earning the frontline its infamous nickname: the meat grinder.
For many Russians, these gifts serve as a brutal reminder of the expendability of their sons – not a gesture of support, but a mockery of their sacrifice.
The questionable gifts come as Russia lost over 1150 soldiers in a single bloody day on the Ukrainian frontline.
Pravda’s online tally of total estimated losses on day 1108 of the war displays the shocking figure, after it was revealed last month that tyrant president Putin is set to lose a million soldiers to death or injury in its war in Ukraine by May.
Russian troops are seen leaping from a T-90M tank
A view from a drone showing a destroyed Russian armoured vehicle in part of a forest where the hottest phase of the war is taking place on November 9, 2024. The forest is located about 8 kilometers southwest of Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine
A serviceman of 24th Mechanized brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fires a 2s5 ‘Hyacinth-s’ self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops at a front line
A Russian soldier fires a gun toward a Ukrainian position in the Russian-Ukrainian border area in the Kursk region
The current trajectory of losses coincides with Russia’s so-called Victory Day on May 9 when Putin will gather with his Kremlin henchmen to watch the annual military parade in Red Square.
Data from the UK defence intelligence already estimates that Putin’s forces have lost 860,000 soldiers to death or injury at an average of 1,500 servicemen a day since November.
And in the next two months, Moscow could lose another 115,000 bringing that total close to nearly a million.
Military bloggers have also claimed that younger Ukrainian Army generals are inflicting ‘unsustainable losses’ on Russia.
Ukrainian troops are now keeping the Russian forces at ‘marginal gains’, Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported earlier this week.
Behind these Ukrainian battlefield successes are a ‘new generation’ of young generals who have fought against Russia since it first invaded Crimea in 2014.
Russian military bloggers also wrote that Putin’s troops had lost ground in Uspenivka in Donetsk Oblast, another region long-targeted by Russia during the war.
According to DeepState, a Ukrainian blog tracking the war, Russian troops were occupying about 192 square kilometres of Ukrainian ground in February, which is less than they did in previous months.
