Putin's party sparks outrage by gifting meat grinders to mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine

A local branch of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party sparked controversy by gifting meat grinders to the mothers of fallen soldiers on Saturday, a symbolic date which marked International Women’s Day.

On social media, a branch of the United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photos of officials smiling beside bereaved mothers holding flowers and boxed meat grinders.

The “Flowers for the Mothers of Heroes“ campaign was launched by the women's branch of the United Russia party as a show of support for the mothers of fallen soldiers.

However, the add-on meat grinders gifted by the northern Murmansk branch of the United Russia party did not go down well, with social media users viewing the appliance as a symbol of Moscow's war of attrition in Ukraine.

The term “meat grinder“ has been frequently used to describe Russia's military tactics, referring to Moscow's strategy of sending relentless waves of soldiers to the front to wear down Ukrainian forces and expose their locations.

It has been used to describe the 2023 assault on the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

The local branch of United Russia responded to the online criticism by posting a video of a mother claiming she had asked for a meat grinder.

“A meat grinder was not included in the standard set, but the woman asked for it and, of course, we could not refuse her“, read a statement by Maxim Chengaev, the mayor of Polyarnye Zori, a town located in the northern Murmansk region, in the video's caption.

“With great respect and understanding we individually accompany and provide all-round support to all families of the (war's) participants,“ added Chengaev.

There are no precise figures on how many Russian soldiers have been killed since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

In December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 198,000 Russian troops had been killed in nearly three years of fighting, while Moscow issued its last official report of military losses in September 2022, citing fewer than 6,000 deaths.

In Russia, International Women’s Day coincides with the 1917 February Coup — a key event leading up to the October Revolution — when Russian women took to the streets to campaign for their rights and peace on 23 February.

In the Gregorian calendar, 23 February is equivalent to 8 March in the Julian calendar, which Russia was still using at the time.