Even calling has consequences
Russia criminalizes anti-war demonstrations
02/24/2022, 4:57 p.m
The Internet is calling for protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg against the government’s actions. However, she reacts immediately and threatens “serious legal consequences”. Meanwhile, in other European countries, hundreds of people are demonstrating in front of the Russian embassy.
The Russian authorities have threatened fines in the event of demonstrations against the invasion of Ukraine. The investigative committee announced that those who took part in rallies about the “tense foreign policy situation” would be prosecuted. Similar warnings were issued by the Interior Ministry and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. Calls for participation in such events would also “entail serious legal consequences,” the committee said. The Interior Ministry warned that the police would “take all necessary measures to ensure public order” in the event of demonstrations.
Online networks had previously called for anti-war demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg that evening. However, the Russian opposition movement has been significantly weakened in the past two years. Key leaders were imprisoned or exiled. Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny sharply criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “I am against this war,” he said. The “war between Russia and Ukraine” is a maneuver by the Kremlin to distract attention from domestic problems in Russia.
It is becoming increasingly clear how many Russians are opposed to their government’s actions. According to ntv information, more than 100 Russian delegates and members of parliament called for an immediate end to the war in an open letter. A number of artists, journalists and other people also started appeals against the war. According to ntv information, some people demonstrated at Puschkinplatz, but the protest was immediately cleared by the police.
Protests in Warsaw, Paris, Berlin
Protests are also forming in other countries. Hundreds of people demonstrated against the large-scale attack on Ukraine in front of the Russian embassies in Warsaw and Paris. “Putin murderer”, “Stop the war against independent Ukraine”, “Warsaw is in solidarity with Ukraine” read signs and banners in the Polish capital. The demonstrators, including many Ukrainians living in Poland, waved Ukrainian, Polish and EU flags. They condemned the Russian attack and called for a united response from the West. Motorists expressed their solidarity with Ukraine by honking their horns.
In front of the Russian embassy in Paris, the demonstrators chanted “Stop Putin, stop the war”. Some posters read “No war” or “Putin Ukraine 2022, Hitler Poland 1939”. People waved the yellow and blue flag of Ukraine and sang a WWII-era Ukrainian song. The presidential candidate of the Left, Christiane Taubira, and the Green candidate Yannick Jadot also briefly took part in the demonstration in Paris.
Around a hundred people protested in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. They also posted posters calling for an immediate end to the Russian attack on Ukraine. Demonstrators unfurled a huge Ukrainian flag in front of the Chancellery. Numerous people also took to the streets in other European cities such as Brussels, The Hague and Nice in southern France to demonstrate against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.