In Russia, Yelena Osipova, artist and peace activist was arrested after a demonstration against the war in Ukraine, and the images have gone around the world.
She was peacefully protesting in St. Petersburg against the war in Ukraine, with messages of peace written on her placards. However, demonstrations to protest against Russian aggression in Ukraine are prohibited, even standing in the street with a sign. Yelena Osipova was therefore arrested by the Russian police. If the images of her arrest, which took place on Wednesday March 2, 2022, have gone around the world, it is because of the age of this peace rebel: 76 years old. Rumor has it that she even experienced the war siege of Leningrad.
According to the media The Russian Reader, quoted by Paris Match, this woman is a longtime artist and activist. This is not the first time that she has confronted the Russian police either. She manifests her pacifism in her works and in the street from a young age.
The Russian fear of protesting
In 2015, she already explained that the Russians were afraid to demonstrate because of the repression: “People stay at home, like in Soviet times. Laws make it so hard to pay fines. Before, the biggest one was 500 rubles. People collected money online and sent it to prisoners. But now the fines are so high that we can no longer pay”. And to add: “Too bad that society resigned itself from the start and did not oppose these laws. After all, they could have resisted and taken to the streets, but unfortunately, when people start to live better, they become indifferent”. She has now become a symbol of resistance necessary at any age.