- A video shared by Radio Free Europe appears to show a Siberian governor having a tense meeting with Russian citizens.
- The meeting was held for the relatives of a local police unit to ask why the officers had been deployed into
Ukraine .
A video circulating online this week appears to show a Siberian governor being confronted by the relatives of Russian police officers who were sent into Ukraine as "cannon fodder."
The footage was taken at a meeting between Sergey Tsivilev, governor of the Kemerovo region in southwestern Siberia, and relatives of local riot police officers from Novokuznetsk city, Radio Free Europe reported on Sunday.
According to RFE, the group had gathered in the gymnasium of a riot police training base on Saturday to ask why the city's riot police unit had been deployed in
"They lied to everyone. They deceived everyone," a woman can be heard off-screen.
A man appearing to be Tsivilev is then seen replying: "No one has lied to anyone."
Other voices can be heard off-camera alleging that the officers were "sent as cannon fodder" and that they were told they'd been deployed for military exercises, RFE reported.
Tsivilev responds by saying the invasion was a "special operation" and that "nobody" could comment on the situation, according to the outlet.
"Look, you can shout and blame everyone right now, but I think that, while a military operation is in process, one shouldn't make any conclusions," the governor said, per The Guardian.
According to RFE, at least two Russian prisoners of war captured in Ukraine have identified themselves as riot police officers from Novokuznetsk.
Ukraine on Sunday reported that invading Russian forces have suffered 11,000 casualties, though these claims have not been verified. The Pentagon on Tuesday estimated Russian losses to be between 2,000 to 4,000 troops since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
Numerous videos and reports, many of which were released by Ukrainian forces, show demoralized Russian prisoners of war saying they had been misled by the Kremlin. One viral video circulated over Twitter appears to show a captured Russian soldier crying as he is allowed to video call with his mother.