In Russia, new protests against the mobilization imposed by Putin and first arrests

First modification: 09/24/2022 – 17:09

New demonstrations against the mobilization demanded by Russian President Vladimir Putin began throughout the Russian territory this Saturday, September 24.

The protests, which began in cities such as Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Khabarovsk and Ivanovo (in the Siberian region, in the center-east of the country) will be followed by marches in Moscow and Saint Petersburg as well as other places in the territory, according to the appeal. of the Vesná youth and peace movement.

In these first operations, 13 people were arrested in Novosibirsk and another 10 in Tomsk, according to the independent organization OVD-Info, which has been monitoring demonstrations and recording arrests for several years.

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“We are not meat”

In Khabarovsk, in the Russian Far East, Inna Postnikova was arrested for carrying a banner saying “fight yourself, give birth yourself”. Before being released, she was charged with discrediting the armed forces, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

Antonina Jordikova, arrested in Novosibirsk, was also released after being indicted on the same charge. The demonstrator carried a banner with the slogan “I am against the mobilization”.

In the city of Chita, Marina Salomatova, a member of the Trans-Baikal Civil Solidarity movement, was arrested for carrying a piece of paper that said “we are not meat”, referring to the at least 300,000 men who are going to be mobilized.

The police also took Nadezhda Nizovkina, a human rights activist from the city of Ulan-Ude, while she was interviewing protesters and people in the square of the capital of the Buryat republic, according to OVD-Info.

Demonstrations and attempts to leave the country

During the first demonstration last Wednesday, more than 1,300 people were arrested in 40 cities for protesting against the partial mobilization. These were the largest protests in Russia since those that followed the announcement of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine at the end of February.

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These protests are a reaction to President Vladimir Putin’s speech, which on Wednesday announced a “partial mobilization” of Russians of fighting age – some 300,000 reservists – thus paving the way for a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict.

“I consider it necessary to support the proposal (of the Ministry of Defense) to partially mobilize citizens in the reserve, those who have already served (…) and who have relevant experience,” the Russian president said then.

In addition to the demonstrations in the streets, there was an avalanche of plane ticket purchases by people who supposedly wanted to leave the country.

At the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, there was an initial exodus of Russians who disagreed with the assault or feared mobilization. However, no official estimate of the number of people who left the country has been made public.

with Eph