Russian soldiers’ wives protest in Moscow against Putin’s war | War Ukraine and Russia

Radio Free Europe reported yesterday that dozens of women took to the streets for the protest, which lasted just five minutes before “the police arrived on the scene and ordered the action to stop.”

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, protests have been held more often throughout Russia. These anti-war demonstrations quickly fizzled out after Russian officials cracked down on any form of deviant behavior. Russian President Vladimir Putin has even signed a law making it illegal for media or Russian citizens to “knowingly” spread false information about the war that the Kremlin considers false. Penalties range from fines to prison sentences of up to 15 years.

The independent Russian news website ‘Important Stories’ wrote that Tuesday’s demonstrators had requested permission to protest. Their application was refused on the grounds of Covid-19 restrictions. The family members decided to protest on Theater Square in central Moscow, where at the same time a group of communists were gathering for the 106th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Wives and relatives of Russian soldiers have also often expressed frustration on social media about the war and the way their relatives are treated by their commanders. Last month, for example, relatives of Russian troops posted a video on Telegram calling on Putin to remove their loved ones from the front lines. In the video, one of the speakers said that a battalion from their region had “suffered colossal losses. Every minute we receive information about injured and fatalities,” he said.

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