More than 4,000 detained during anti-war rallies in Russia, including minors
Monday, 7 March 2022, 07:45
Russian police have detained more than 4,300 people across 56 cities in Russia during demonstrations against the invasion of Ukraine, with minors among those detained.
According to OVD-Info: "On 6 March, at least 4,000 participants in anti-war rallies were detained across 56 Russian cities.
There have been many instances of excessive use of force: the police carried out brutal detentions, beating protesters with truncheons, and using stun guns."
Details: A total of 12,724 people have been detained in more than 100 Russian cities since the beginning of the protests against the war with Ukraine.
On 6 March, thousands of protesters chanted "No to war!" and "Shame on you!" as evidenced by videos posted on social media by opposition activists and bloggers.
Dozens of protesters were detained in Yekaterinburg. There, a mural depicting Putin has been damaged.
Russia’s Interior Ministry said earlier that police had detained about 3,500 people, including 1,700 in Moscow, 750 in St Petersburg and 1,061 in other cities.
"Today we are witnessing quite large protests, even in Siberian cities, where we have rarely seen as many arrests [as we did today]," Maria Kuznetsova, a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, told OVD-Info.