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Ukraine's defence ministry is asking the mothers of captured Russian troops to pick their sons up from across the border -- in an apparent attempt to embarrass Moscow.

Cellphone videos are circulating online of bewildered and disarmed young men in Russian uniform.

This is the latest tactic employed by Ukraine to make Russians at home turn against the war by exposing the gritty realities on the ground, given that some soldiers said they were hoodwinked into joining the invasion to become aggressors.

What online flyer said

A flyer posted to Facebook by the ministry on March 2 read: "Ukraine has made the decision to return POW to their mothers if they come to Ukraine."

"We ask you to deliver this message to the thousands of miserable Russian mothers, whose sons have been captured in Ukraine."

"We, Ukrainian people, in contrast to Putin's fascists do not make war with mothers and their captured sons," the defense ministry said.

"We are waiting for you in Kyiv!"

Info on retrieving sons put up

The post also consists of a list of instructions for Russian mothers to follow to get their son back.

It includes calling a phone number to find out if their sons are dead or captured.

And if Russian mothers are game enough to physically retrieve their sons if they have been captured, they can cross the border.

The route is not straightforward as it is a journey to Poland's border with Ukraine, followed by an escort to Kyiv, the detailed directions read.

Number of captured and dead Russian soldiers unknown

The number of dead and captured Russian soldiers in Ukraine is not known, as the official numbers released by the invaders -- 498 dead, 1,600 wounded -- cannot be independently verified.

Ukraine has said that 6,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in combat within six days -- a figure that has led to scepticism from professional war observers who attributed it more to propaganda than information to deter further aggression by exaggerating numbers.

Ukraine has not provided official figures of its own soldiers killed in combat.

The country's interior ministry previously had urged families to identify any captured or killed Russian troops, with a Telegram group set up to share grim images of combatants both alive and dead.

This led to questions if such a method of disseminating information is a violation of Geneva Conventions that explicitly state that prisoners of war and the war dead should be treated with dignity.

Ukraine defended its decision by claiming it is providing a public service for Russians.

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