Spouses and relatives of Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine held a protest on Tuesday in Moscow to demand their loved ones be returned home.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported dozens of women participated in the demonstration, which only lasted for about five minutes before “police cordoned them off and ordered them to halt the action.”
Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, multiple protests were held throughout Russia. But those anti-war rallies soon died out after Russian officials cracked down on any forms of dissent. Putin has gone so far as to sign a law that makes it illegal for members of the media or Russian citizens to “knowingly” spread what the Kremlin deems to be false information about the war. Punishment ranges from fines to prison sentences of up to 15 years.
The independent Russian media outlet Important Stories wrote that the participants in Tuesday’s protest said they had applied for permission to hold a picket but were denied because of COVID-19 restrictions. As a result, they decided to protest anyway in the Moscow city center site of Theater Square while a group of communists rallied for the 106th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Getty Images
“Then the police came, they called the main organizer and took us aside. [A government official] approached us, and we agreed that after laying flowers at the Mausoleum, we would convey our appeal to him,” a participant reportedly told Important Stories.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
Soon after the start of the war, an organization was formed known as the Council of Mothers and Wives, which was comprised of relatives of mobilized Russians. However, the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported in July that the group announced it would cease work after its website was shut down and Russian officials declared it was a “foreign agent.”
Wives and relatives of Russian soldiers have also frequently taken to social media to express their frustration about the war and with how their family members are being treated by their commanders. One example of this occurred last month when relatives of Russian troops posted a video on Telegram that called on Putin to remove their loved ones from the front lines.
A speaker in that video said a battalion from their region had been “taking colossal losses. Every minute, we receive information about the wounded and dead.”
The clip ended with the entire group shouting in unison: “Bring our men back!”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.