Kremlin attempts to calm Russian fury over chaotic mobilisation

Amid angry protests over the conscription of new recruits, a propaganda drive is seeking to deflect blame from Vladimir Putin

• Russia-Ukraine war - latest updates

It took Alina three goes at the local conscription centre to get her husband out of Russia's war in Ukraine.

She knew the local officials managing the mobilisation in her town south of Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, she said. So when her husband, who has health problems because of his weight and served in the army more than 15 years ago, was called up, she began hassling them to review his case.