Russia has strict legislation to control demonstrations that usually end with massive arrests. The Russian authorities today threatened to crack down on any “unauthorized” demonstration related to “the tense foreign policy situation”.
Numerous activists called on the population on social networks to defy that order and take to the streets, after the Russian president Vladimir Putin launch its offensive against Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday.
About 2,000 people gathered in Moscow’s central Pushkin Square and about 1,000 in the former imperial capital of St. Petersburg, according to AFP journalists. The demonstrators in Pushkin Square shouted: “Not to the war!”.
“I am shocked. My relatives and loved ones live in Ukraine,” counted in moscow Anastasia Nestulya. “What can I tell them on the phone? Are they going to stay there?” added this 23-year-old Russian woman, who, like many, says she is afraid to demonstrate.
Some reactions that could also be heard in St. Petersburg. “I have the feeling that the authorities have gone crazy”explained Svetlana Volkova, 27, who believes that few people are willing to demonstrate in Russia.
A young man shouted as they arrested her: “Who are you fighting? Stop Putin.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine comes at the same time as an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition in the country, with many of its leaders killed, detained or forced into exile.
the opponent Alexei Navalny, imprisoned since January 2021, he said in court, during a new process that started last week, that he rejects the invasion. “This war between Russia and Ukraine is being waged to cover up the robbery of Russian citizens and to divert attention from the problems that exist within the country, from the deterioration of the economy.”he said according to a video published by the opposition channel Dojd.
Source: Ambito
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