“No to war!” shouted the crowd of mostly young Russians gathered on Nevsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg’s main street, last night. Hours after Putin ordered his troops to advance into Ukraine Russians across the country took to the streets to criticize his actions: “I am ashamed for my country. To be honest, I’m speechless. War is always scary. We don’t want this. “Why are we doing it?” said one protester. Like her, thousands have joined the protests against the war.
The results have been predictable. Police have arrested more than 1,700 people as protesters continue to take to the streets with banners and armed with the only thing they have: their voice.
protests. In the evening, as Ukrainians fled to escape their country, thousands in Russia, where protests are strictly restricted, demonstrated in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. In St. Petersburg, protesters began gathering in front of the historic Gostiny Dvor shopping arcade around 7:00 p.m. The atmosphere was tense, with some people crying in the face of a heavy police presence.
A woman raised a bunch of balloons in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The crowds seemed to have little confidence that their rare protests would change anything, but the protests were cathartic for some. “The only hope is us. As long as we are here, there is still hope,” said another protester.
A wider view of tonight’s gathering in St. Petersburg. pic.twitter.com/kAK7f5QgGt
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) February 24, 2022
Moscow: pic.twitter.com/8S9XPCiFvy
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) February 24, 2022
Repression. When the demonstration began, the police were already in position, with the OMON riot squad fully equipped with bulletproof vests, helmets and batons, standing by the buses brought in to take away the protesters. But there was no effort to cordon off the area. Instead, a policeman with a loudspeaker walked around, warning that this was an unauthorized demonstration and that anyone who attended risked arrest and prosecution.
“Ukraine is not our enemy!” chanted the crowd. “Russia is against the war!” The crowd came and went as teams of riot police periodically swooped in and grabbed protesters, seemingly at random, dragging them onto buses to take them away. “Putin is a murderer! He is the shame of Russia!” They chanted.
Riot police on Palace Square in St. Petersburg (photo via @fontanka_news). pic.twitter.com/x3iFDhUymp
— Eilish Hart (@EilishHart) February 24, 2022
arrests. By the end of the night, police had made at least 1,702 arrests in 53 Russian cities, according to monitor OVD-Info, as they cracked down on unauthorized protests. Most of the arrests were made in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, where the protests were strongest. But the cries of anger were not only felt in the streets of Moscow, but in dozens of Russian cities.
Arrests in St. Petersburg: pic.twitter.com/DSoCytYZgd
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) February 24, 2022
Pushkin Square, maybe less than 1000 meters from Red Square and the Kremlin, is the quote of a significant protest. These people know the risks of challenging the regime. They’re on the street in-spite of major personal costs. pic.twitter.com/bYEfbO91xG
— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) February 24, 2022
contradiction. Vladimir Putin has said that there is broad public support for the invasion of Ukraine. But by night, thousands of people in cities across Russia had defied police threats to seize central squares and protest the military campaign. There were already signs that the Russians were uncomfortable with Putin’s initial decision to recognize the two self-proclaimed republics in Donbas.
On Tuesday, Yuri Dudt, one of Russia’s most popular media personalities, said he “didn’t vote for this regime” and his need for an empire, and felt ashamed, in a post that received nearly a million likes. in 24 hours. A new poll by the independent Levada Center shows that only 45% of Russians were in favor of the recognition movement that preceded the dramatic events of these days.
Protests are erupting in several Russian cities tonight against Putin’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, along with attempts from police to forcibly suppress them. Here’s his hometown of St. Petersburg. I’ll be threading videos below as I find them. pic.twitter.com/B5MyG5E4ou
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) February 24, 2022