A young Russian recruit bids farewell to his family in St. Petersburg. Photo: EPA-EFE / ANATOLY MALTSEV

At least 129 Russian military conscripts have gone missing or been taken captive in the country’s southwestern Kursk region since the start of the Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory on 6 August, independent media outlet IStories reported on Friday.

IStories was able to identify 45 conscripts who have been captured and a further 84 who are missing in action, as well as confirming the deaths of at least three conscripts deaths. Many more reported conscript deaths have yet to be confirmed, the outlet added.

The news flies in the face of the repeated assurances given by Vladimir Putin since 2022 that young recruits doing their mandatory military service would not be sent to the front lines.

According to IStories, the parents of the affected conscripts have been contacted by representatives of the military, who instructed them not to discuss their sons’ captivity, disappearance or death to avoid “playing into Ukrainian hands” as well as to avoid conflict with the Russian authorities, IStories said.

The Kursk region has been the focal point of a Ukrainian incursion since 6 August. Armed Forces of Ukraine Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Tuesday that his forces had pushed 28–35 kilometres into Russia, capturing a total of 1,263 square kilometres of territory including 93 settlements, although Novaya Gazeta Europe has been unable to independently confirm these figures.