Only professional soldiers participating in Ukraine operation; conscripts not being used - Putin

MOSCOW. March 5 (Interfax) - There are no plans to use conscripts during the special operation in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"Only professional soldiers, officers and contract servicemen, are taking part in this operation. There is not a single conscript there, and we do not plan, we are not going to use them," Putin said at a meeting with women from the cabin crews of Russian airlines.

The same concerns reservists being called up for training, he said.

"No, we do not plan to do it with this category either. They were regularly called up for training before and will continue to be called up to training. But we are not going to call up this category [for active service], and they will not participate in this conflict, in this operation. We have sufficient forces and means to tackle the tasks that we are setting for ourselves by the efforts of the professional army," the president said.

Only men who "voluntarily made a very responsible choice in life - to defend the homeland -" are taking part in this operation, he said.

"They are carrying out this task commendably," Putin said.

"I want to repeat that in this military operation we are not using and are not going to use either conscripts or those being called up for training. I assume that our army will accomplish all tasks facing it. I do not doubt it even for a second. The entire course of the operation points to it. It is going according to plan, according to schedule, exactly as planned by the General Staff," Putin said.