SOLDIERS’ MOTHERS GROUP PROVIDES LIST OF 689 RUSSIAN POWS INCHECHNYA

. Activists from the Soldiers’ Mothers Group providedthe Russian defense ministry with a list of 689 Russian soldierswho had been captured in Chechnya, Interfax reported July 12.The women said that some 100-120 of the men had already been released,but defense ministry officials scoffed at the numbers, sayingthat no more than 200 men had been captured. Meanwhile, anotheranti-military group urged the Duma to pass a law establishingprovisions for alternatives to military service, the Russian newsagency reported.

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