At least 1,332 people were arrested Wednesday in Russia during improvised demonstrations against the partial mobilization for the offensive in Ukraine, announced in the morning by President Vladimir Putin, according to an NGO. According to OVD-Info, an organization specializing in counting arrests, the mobilizations took place in at least 38 cities in the country.
“No to war” chanted by the demonstrators
AFP journalists in Moscow saw at least 50 arrests on one of the central arteries of the capital. In St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, a whole bus of arrested people was taken by the police to the center. The demonstrators chanted “No to war!” and “No mobilization!”.
“Everyone is scared. I’m for peace and I don’t want to have to shoot. But it’s very dangerous to go out now, otherwise there would have been a lot more people,” said a protester in St. Petersburg , Vasily Fedorov, a student who wears a pacifist emblem on his chest.
“Why are you serving Putin?”
Alexei Zavarki, 60, regrets the immediate police response to the rallies. “I came to participate, but it seems that they have already taken everyone on board,” he said, before adding: “I don’t know where we are going, this regime has signed its death warrant, is destroying the youth “. “Why are you serving Putin? A man who has been sitting on his throne for twenty years!” Shouts another protester towards the police. Alina Skvortsova, 20, hopes the Russians are beginning to “understand” the nature of the Kremlin’s offensive in Ukraine. “As soon as they really understand, they will go out into the streets, despite the fear.”
“I’m afraid for myself, for my brother, who is 25 years old and who has done his military service. He can be called up,” explains Oksana Sidorenko, a student. “Why is my future decided for me?” In an address to the nation on Wednesday morning, Vladimir Putin decreed a partial mobilization of Russian reservists for the offensive in Ukraine and assured that he was ready to use “all means” in his arsenal against the West.
The Russian Interior Ministry, quoted by the Interfax agency, said in the evening that it had suppressed “attempts to organize unauthorized gatherings”. “All were stopped and the people who committed these violations were arrested and taken to the territorial police units for investigation and legal proceedings,” he said. In an address to the nation on Wednesday morning, Vladimir Putin decreed a partial mobilization of Russian reservists for the offensive in Ukraine and assured that he was ready to use “all means” in his arsenal against the West.