At least 54 people have been arrested by Russian police for expressing their rejection of the invasion in Ukraine

At least 54 people were arrested this friday at 14 Russian citiesbetween them Moscow there Saint PETERSBOURGfor showing their disapproval of the invasion in Ukraine, according to the organization OVD information, specialized in monitoring detainees and declared a foreign agent in Russia.

Specific, 18 people were arrested by the Russian police in Saint Petersburg to carry out individual anti-war actionshow to lay flowers in front of the monument Ukrainian painter Taras Shevchenkowriting on snow or making stakes.

These arrests are in addition to those of Yekaterinburgin total 11, where several people organized spontaneous rallies in memory of the leader of the Russian opposition Boris Nemtsov. Besides, at least seven people were arrested in Moscow.

Two other people were arrested in the Russian town of Nizhny Novgorod look for the monument at Irina Slavinaa deceased journalist who committed suicide by dousing herself with a flammable liquid and setting herself on fire in front of a police station in protest against the government of russia. These detainees were joined by a woman and a minor wearing a anti-war poster in Barnaul.

There were also detainees in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, where a city deputy was arrested who carried a sign on which he wrote “peace for Ukraine. Soldier, go home.”in Samara, Moscow region and Irkutsk.

Over the past twelve months, OVD-Info deposit 19,586 arrests In 78 regions of Russia in the protests against the invasion of the forces of Vladimir Poutine in Ukraine.

At least 447 people were prosecuted in connection with anti-war protests, 128 of them are in detention.

On March 4, 2022, eight days after the launch of his “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a law punishing heavy fines or between three and 15 years in prison for dissemination of “false information” on the Russian army.

More specifically, the regulation punishes between 10 and 15 years in prison the dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces which has “serious consequences”.

In addition, it provides for penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment for “public actions” who seek to discredit the use of Russian armed forces to “defend the interests of Russia and its citizens, in the preservation of international security and peace”.

Faced with those who protest, there are also those who defend Russia’s warlike intervention in the neighboring country.

Bogdan, a TV channel operator, believes that Russians are experiencing a kind of “inspiration” with everything that is happening and that Russia will “achieve its goals” in Ukraine.

“We are like that, we can spend years taking blows and blows, but when we get up, it’s hard to stop,” he told the news agency. EFEparaphrasing the phrase of the German Chancellor Otto of Bismarck on the hundreds of methods to get the bear out of the burrow and the impossibility of forcing it back into hiding.

He is sincerely convinced of the western responsibility in this conflict and considers that more than half of the Russian population shares his point of view.It’s very hard, it hurts a lot, it’s something we didn’t want to happen, but it was inevitable“, he added, noting that beyond his regret for this situation, his life has not been seriously affected.

For many, the real possibility of war knocking on their doorstep has become a sword of Damocles: after the partial mobilization decreed by Putin last September, several hundred thousand Russians fled abroad.

Konstantin, a young Russian opponent who escaped conscription by fleeing to Georgia, said he would like to return to his country, “but only after Putin’s impeachment or death, when the current regime is over”.

(With information from Europa Press and EFE)

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