Protests against the war in Ukraine continued in Russia, police arrested – SME.sk

MOSCOW. Street protests against the war on Ukraine in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities also resumed on Saturday, with people taking to the streets despite mass arrests on Thursdays and Fridays.

According to OVD-Info, a human rights group that is following the political arrests, at least 460 people were detained in anti-war protests on Saturday in 34 Russian cities, including more than 200 in Moscow.

Among those detained in the city of Belgorod in the west Russia Two journalists from Radio Liberty (RFE / RL) were also at the border with Ukraine. After a few hours, the police released them.

Open letters against the Russian invasion of Ukraine

As the AP reported on Sunday night, various types of anti-war protests are on the rise in Russia.

Open letters condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than 6,000 health professionals signed on Saturday alone.

Another document with similar content was supported by more than 3,400 architects, engineers and urban planners on Saturday, while the call for peace in Ukraine was signed by more than 500 teachers on Saturday.

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The Communists are protesting against the invasion

The AP warned that criticism of the invasion came quite unexpectedly from some members of parliament, who voted earlier this week to recognize the independence of the two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, a step that preceded the Russian attack.

Two lawmakers from the Communist Party, which usually follows the Kremlin line, have spoken out on social media against combat operations in Ukraine.

Oleg Smolin said he was “shocked” when the attack on Ukraine began, adding that he believed military force should only be used as a last resort in politics.

Smolin’s colleague Mikhail Matveyev said that “the war must be stopped immediately”. He explained that he had voted for Russia “to become a shield against the bombing of Donbas, not for the bombing of Kiev”.

Russia is even tougher against opponents

The Russian leadership, meanwhile, has taken a tougher stance on those who condemned the invasion, both at home and abroad.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, chaired by the president Vladimir Putinhe said, Moscow could respond to Western sanctions by withdrawing from the latest nuclear weapons agreement with the United States, cutting diplomatic ties with Western countries and freezing their assets.

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He also warned that Moscow could restore the death penalty after Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe. His statement shocked human rights activists in a country that has had a moratorium on the death penalty since August 1996.

Eva Merkačová, a member of the Kremlin Human Rights Council, condemned Medvedev’s vision as a “catastrophe” and a “return to the Middle Ages.”

War in Ukraine