The mothers of Russian soldiers have accused Vladimir Putin of deploying their sons as “cannon fodder” in his invasion of Ukraine .
Footage - see above - has emerged of a confrontation with a regional governor, reportedly shot on a day on which police in Russia detained 4,500 anti-war protesters.
In the video Sergey Tsivilev, governor of the Kuzbass region in Siberia, stood on a stage in a school gym while being confronted by angry soldiers' mothers who were accusing the Kremlin of lying.
"We were all deceived, all deceived,” one woman shouted.
“They were sent there as cannon fodder. They are young. They were unprepared."
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An uncomfortable-looking Mr Tsivilev shuffled as he attempted to frame Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as a “special operation”, rather than a war.
However, his attempts to back the Kremlin’s propaganda was drowned out by the yells of more women.
One mother butted in, yelling “Used! So our children were used?”
The video did not make clear who the women were and whether their sons had been killed fighting in Ukraine.
Soldiers’ mothers hold an important place in Russian society, The Telegraph reports.
They made the first major noises of dissent against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which grew to become a powerful force.
The footage of angry mothers comes on the heels of video footage from Ukraine showing captured Russian soldiers being interrogated.
The clips make clear that most militants were conscripts and had no idea they were being thrown into a full-scale war.
Rather, they seemed to think they were going on another military exercise. It also appears the troops have been short of food and equipment.
It was a day of violent protests across Russia on Sunday, with 4,460 people arrested by the police for publicly opposing the war.
Police attending the protests were wielding truncheons and electric rods with officers reportedly pinning protestors down before detaining them.
One of them was Alexandra Kaluzhskikh, who was told she was an "enemy of the people" before being insulted, punched and humiliated.
She found herself enduring physical and emotional punishment in a cell in Moscow's Brateevo police station with two male and one female police officers present.
As she is struck, a policeman tells her: "Putin is on our side. You are enemies of Russia.
"The enemies of the people.
"I’ll f***ing beat you here and this will be it, and I’ll get an award for it."
he woman is asked where she studies before she is punched by one of the male police officers who then says: “There will be another big bruise now. Stand up and remember."
Kaluzhskikh is heard to be struck again and the officer asks: ‘Are we continuing, or is it still article 51?”
The female detainee is heard asking the female police officer ”Is it all right for a woman to watch this?" to which she replies “Yes, it's all right.”
Then the male officer says to Kaluzhskikh: “Look at yourself. Your boobs are hanging like a cow's udder. Look at yourself! F***ing monkey!”
The woman officer ignores the comments and asks the detainee where she studies or works.
When Kaluzhskikh remains silent, the male officer replies: “We will get what we need”, warning the beatings will get more severe the longer she refuses to answer their questions.
The recording, made by the detainee who was eventually released pending a court case, ends with the woman being told she will be Tasered.
Another female detainee at the same police station said that people were beaten, had bags put over their heads and water poured over them.
