Dead Russian soldiers honoured at their old school in Crimea

The inscriptions on both plaques read: "True to his oath, he perished while fulfilling his military duty in the course of the special military operation" - the term used by President Vladimir Putin to describe Russia's military campaign in Ukraine. The mother of one of the dead men said she supported Russia's military goals.

Two young soldiers who died fighting for Russia in Ukraine have been honored with the unveiling of memorial plaques at the school they attended in Crimea.

Relatives, students, and local officials held a ceremony on Friday to commemorate Denis Varavin and Yevgeny Petelko, with young people marching in an honour guard with a Russian tricolor flag and shots fired into the air to salute the two men's memory. The inscriptions on both plaques read: "True to his oath, he perished while fulfilling his military duty in the course of the special military operation" - the term used by President Vladimir Putin to describe Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

The mother of one of the dead men said she supported Russia's military goals. "I think the fulfillment of this operation must go on right to the end. Our children are defending us. So that we can live," Nina Varavina said.

Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 in an annexation condemned as illegal by Kyiv and Western governments and used the peninsula as a launchpad for its current campaign. Moscow says the "special operation" is needed to defend Ukraine's Russian speakers from persecution and prevent the West from using Ukraine to threaten Russia - allegations dismissed by Kyiv and the West as baseless pretexts for a war of aggression.

Russia says its military campaign in Ukraine is going to plan. It has not revealed the scale of its casualties.

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