Police reportedly arrested over 3,000 protesters and detained thousands in at least 49 different cities
Photo: Konstantin Zavrazhin/Getty Images Even before Putin officially authorized military action into Ukraine, many Russian civilians didn’t want war, expressing deep unease and foreboding about their president’s imperial ambitions. After the attack began, some Russian soldiers in Ukraine protested by abandoning their military vehicles and surrendering. Now, as the invasion continues to intensify, so does antiwar sentiment among Russian civilians.
The protests came during a contentious moment in Russian media. Over the past few weeks, Putin has been attempting to stifle antiwar sentiment with a strategic mix of information suppression and pro-Russian propaganda.
Despite Putin’s efforts to criminalize dissent, the protests pushed forward. Videos circulating on social media show masses of people gathered in St. Petersburg chanting “No to war!,” while others show police officers trying to subdue protesters with violence, beating and kicking them down. In Kaliningrad, an elderly woman at a protest addressed a police officer, explaining that she survived the Nazi siege of Leningrad.
While some Russians have bought into state-sponsored propaganda about the war, denying the nature of Russian violence in Ukraine, antiwar sentiment has prompted thousands of others to flee the country. Anton Dolin, a prominent Russian film critic, announced his departure this past weekend, writing, “There is no more Russia … This is a moral catastrophe.”
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