Spouses and family members of Russian infantrymen serving in Ukraine protested in Moscow on Tuesday to call for the return of their loved ones to their homes.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that dozens of women took part in the protest, which lasted about five minutes before “the police cordoned them off and ordered them to stop the action. “
Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many protests took place across Russia, but those pacifist demonstrations were temporarily extinguished after Russian officials cracked down on any form of dissent. Putin has gone so far as to point to a law that prohibits members of the Russian media or citizens from “knowingly” spreading what the Kremlin considers false information about the war. Penalties range from fines to criminal penalties of up to 15 years.
Independent Russian media outlet Importante Stories wrote that participants in Tuesday’s protest said they had applied for permission to picket, but their request was denied due to COVID-19 restrictions. As a result, they protested in Theatre Square in central Moscow anyway, while an organization of communists gathered for the 106th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.
“Then the police came, called the main organizer and took us aside. [A representative] approached us and we agreed that after laying flowers at the mausoleum, we would relay our call to him,” one player allegedly told Important Stories. Formation
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s email for comment.
Shortly after the outbreak of war, an organization known as the Council of Mothers and Wives was formed, composed of relatives of mobilized Russians. However, the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported in July that the organization had announced that it would cease operations after shutting down its online page and that Russian officials had declared it a “foreign agent. “
Wives and family members of Russian infantry soldiers have also used social media to express their frustration with the war and the way their commanders treat their family members. An example of this occurred last month when relatives of Russian infantry soldiers posted a video on Telegram. calling on Putin to remove his loved ones from the front.
One speaker in the video said that a battalion in his country had “suffered colossal losses. Every minute we get data on the wounded and the dead. “
The clip ended with the band yelling in unison, “Bring back our men!”
Jon Jackson is an associate editor of Newsweek, founded in New York City. It focuses on reporting on the war in Ukraine and Russia. In the past, Jon has worked for The Week, River Journal, Den of Geek, and Maxim. She graduated Summa Laude with Honors in Journalism and Mass Communication from New York University. Languages: English.