Russia detains over 3,000 anti-war protestors demonstrating against invasion of Ukraine

Russian police have detained over 3,000 anti-war protestors demonstrating in the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an "unprovoked" invasion of Ukraine. The arrests multiplied as the protests turned violent on Saturday as Russia entered into the third day of its unabated attack on Ukraine. Images emerged on social media of Russian police dragging protestors, both men and women to vans.

Several international media outlets also reported that Russian police not only targetted those who held placards or flags, they also arbitrarily detained journalists and reporters. "In last three days, at least 3,052 people have been arrested," an independent OVD-info monitor, which tracks arrests during protests, informed. On Saturday alone around 467 people were detained in 34 cities of Russia.

[Russian police arrest anti-war protestors in streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg. IMAGE: AP]

Anti-war protests in Russia

Thousands of demonstrators descended to streets of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and several other major cities in Russia to protest against Russia's decision to invade Ukraine. The public resentment against Putin began since Thursday after Russia launched air strikes on Ukrainian territories, killing over 100 civilians and military personnel on the first day. Large-scale devastation has forced Ukrainians to leave homes and take ad-hoc shelters in underground metro stations.

Apart from leaders, Putin's move has been widely criticised by citizens across the world. Ukrainians, Poles, Americans, French, Germans and many more gathered in front of Russian embassies in the respective countries to display solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the wake of the deteriorating security situation in eastern Europe. Thousands of Russian also took to the streets in support of Ukraine, strongly slamming Putin for his "premeditated" aggression. Hundreds of Russians marched and changed "No War!" in the streets of Yekaterinburg on Saturday, Avtozak (a Telegram channel) reported.

According to Associated Press, on Saturday, detainments grew to 1,745 across 54 cities with 957 in Moscow alone.

Russia-Ukraine war

The standoff between Kyiv and Moscow waded into war after Russia continued to amass over 1,50,000 troops along Russia-Ukraine borders. As per reports, 50% of the said troops have invaded Ukraine further advancing towards Kyiv. The blitz intensified as Russian soldiers began raining air-raids on eastern European cities, heavily damaging life and property. Russia created a pretext for the invasion by recognising the independence of two breakaway regions of Ukraine, effectively violating a ceasefire deal signed in Minsk in 2015.

The developments led to Western nations imposing penalties on Putin and targeting officials in his cabinet. Furthermore, additional sanctions also prohibit Russia from engaging in business in international currencies, expanding to include beneficiaries of the war. Meanwhile, Ukraine has displayed a sturdy resistance against Russia and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered mass mobilisation and refused to surrender to Russia.

(Image: AP)