Hundreds of Anti-War Protesters Have Been Arrested Across Russia

After more than 1,800 protestors, hundreds of anti-war protesters were taken into custody in Russia. arrestsThe previous day, Russian President Vladimir Putin directed that a brutalThe long-anticipated invasion in Ukraine.

The independent monitoring group OVD-Info said on its website that “622 people have already been detained in 28 cities” as of 4:03 am in Moscow on Saturday.

“I felt extremely ashamed and helpless,” one Russian demonstrator said of the invasion. The 20-year-old school teacher asked Moscow Times To protect yourself against reprisals, you can request anonymity.

“It was important for me to show that Putin’s decision is not the people’s decision,” she said of protesting in Moscow. “Not even close.”

Protesters were aware they could be arrested as they marched across Russia with authorities warning “negative comments” about the invasion would be treated as “treason.”

A spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights Michelle Bachelet made a Friday statement condemning the invasion. said that “we are also disturbed by the multiple arbitrary arrests of demonstrators in Russia who were protesting against war yesterday.”

“We understand more than 1,800 protesters were arrested,” the spokesperson noted. “It is unclear whether some have now been released. Arresting people for exercising their rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly is a form of arbitrary deprivation. We call on the authorities to ensure the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained for exercising these rights.”

Despite the U.N’s call and similar criticisms from around the globe, Russian anti-war protesters were still being arrested on Friday.

Russians’ protests and arrests came as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) activatedParts of its Response Force, calls mounted for an investigation of Russia’s alleged war crimes, and civilians in Ukraine sought safety as their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warned that Friday night “will be very difficult” while Putin’s forces advanced on the capital city of Kyiv.

The United States of America and the European Union also ramped upAs a response to the ongoing attack, sanctions were imposed on Putin and Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister.

Anton Barbashin, the editorial director of RiddleThe online journal ‘Russian Affairs’ is ”. explainedThe risks protesters are exposed to

For years, the “Russian legal and political system has been repressing the most active civic society leaders, those capable of gathering support for street activity,” and the government adapted a “multitude of laws that penalize protests of any kind,” he wrote.

“Despite all that… we are seeing massive protests all across the country for the second day in the row,” he noted. “That is both inspiring and astonishing. This should be reported. That Russians showed their disagreement with what Putin does to Ukraine.”

Some public figures all over the world recognized the courage of Russian anti-war protesters.

“Now is the time to stand in solidarity with the incredibly brave Russian people who are bravely resisting this aggression by holding huge anti-war protests,” said U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “In an authoritarian country like Russia, protest is an extraordinary act of courage.”

“In my view, the most important thing we can do right now is stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people against this war, and with the Russian people who are risking so much to demonstrate against this corrupt, reckless president who started it,” he added. “Putin and his oligarch friends seek a divided world and the destruction of democracy. We seek a different world.”

“Everyone is shocked and heartbroken,” Alina, a 24-year-old in Moscow, told VICE. “I am half Ukrainian and so are many of my friends.”

“My father’s family is from a town that sits on the border between Russia and Ukraine, near Donetsk and Lugansk,” she noted, referencing territories in eastern Ukraine that have become self-declared “people’s republics” formally recognized as independent by Putin.

“This conflict feels very personal to me,” she said. “My friends and I are going to the protest in Moscow today. It scares me a lot because you can go to jail for at least 15 days for this — and sometimes the consequences are even worse. But we can’t sit and watch how our government is basically killing people and ruining lives.”

Russian police arrested not only protestors but also journalists covering the demonstrations.

The Associated Press reported Friday that “Yelena Chernenko, a journalist with the Kommersant daily, said she was kicked out of the Foreign Ministry pool over an open letter condemning the attack on Ukraine that has been signed by nearly 300 reporters.”

According to the AP:

Chernenko said on the messaging app Telegram that the ministry cited her ‘lack of professionalism,’ and she urged officials not to retaliate against journalists who signed the letter.”

“Apparently such are the times,” Chernenko wrote of the ban she now faces.

Yury Dud was another journalist in trouble. Yury Dud, a vocal Kremlin critic and the founder of one of Russia’s most popular YouTube blogs, was also in trouble on Thursday. He wrote a lengthy social media post condemning the invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday, an influential Kremlin-backed internet watchdog group, the League of Safe Internet, filed a request with the Prosecutor General’s office and the Justice Ministry to consider labeling Dud a “foreign agent”—a crippling designation that implies additional government scrutiny and strong pejorative connotations that would discredit him.

The Russian government partially complies with the requirements. restrictedAccess to Facebook

“Yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labeling of content posted on Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organizations. We refused. As a result, they have announced they will be restricting the use of our services,” said Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, the social media network’s parent company.

“Ordinary Russians are using our apps to express themselves and organize for action. We want them to continue to make their voices heard, share what’s happening, and organize through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger,” he added, referencing other Meta platforms.

Change.org has been signed by more than 620,000 people petition for Russians opposed to Putin’s military action, calling for an immediate withdrawal from Ukraine.

Russian celebrities are protesting the invasion.

Rapper Oxxxymiron — who canceled six sold-out concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg to protest Putin’s assault of Ukraine — said, “I know that most people in Russia are against this war, and I am confident that the more people would talk about their real attitude to it, the faster we can stop this horror.”

“This is a crime and a catastrophe,” he said of the invasion, according to The New York Times. “I cannot entertain you when Russian missiles are falling on Ukraine… When residents of Kyiv are forced to hide in basements and in the metro, while people are dying.”

Pitchfork reported Friday that “several other Russian musicians — including Kasta, Shym, Vladi, Khamil, Zmey, and Noize MC — voiced their opposition to the attack on Ukraine.”

After defeating Polish competitor Hubert Hurkacz in the Dubai Tennis Championships on Friday, Russian 24-year-old Andrey Rublev wrote “No war please” on a television camera.

“In these moments you realize that my match is not important. It’s not about my match, how it affects me. What’s happening is much more terrible,” Rublev said of the invasion on Thursday, according to Reuters.

“You realize how important [it]Peace in the world is to have respect for each other, no matter what. To be united. It’s about that,” he added. “We should take care of our Earth and of each other. This is the most important thing.”

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