Summary

Officials from Putin’s United Russia party in Murmansk gave meat grinders to mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine during International Women’s Day.

The gift choice drew criticism as “shameful” and “inappropriate” because the term “meat grinder” (myasorubka) is commonly used to describe Russia’s brutal frontline tactics of sending waves of soldiers into battle with high casualty rates.

Party officials defended themselves, claiming one mother specifically requested a meat grinder.

Russia rarely discloses casualty figures, but independent sources have identified at least 91,000 Russian soldiers killed, with US estimates suggesting 700,000 killed or wounded. Ukraine has reported over 46,000 of its soldiers killed.

  • catloaf@lemm.ee
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    7 hours ago

    The local party later posted a video in which one of the soldiers’ mothers awkwardly thanked the party for the gifts and confirmed that she had asked for a meat grinder because she needed one.

    This is yellow journalism. The Guardian should be better than that.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    Reminds me of those cute messages that American soldiers write on bombs before they drop them on the eight or nine countries we’re at war with at any given moment in time.

  • Winter8593@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    Would be so funny if it wasn’t real.

    Why are they even doing this? Because pain and suffering is the intention? To throw off search results for Russian meat grinder articles and discussions? What a world we live in.

  • CobraChicken3000@lemmy.ca
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    8 hours ago

    This couldn’t be more on the nose, unless maybe if they gifted chess boards with just the pawns inside.