More than two dozen people, mostly journalists, were detained Saturday at a protest in central Moscow, as wives and other relatives of Russian servicemen mobilized to fight in Ukraine called for their return, according to independent Russian news reports.
The relatives gathered to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just outside the Kremlin walls. They marked 500 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2022 ordered a “partial mobilization” of up to 300,000 reservists following battlefield setbacks in Moscow’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
The call-up was widely unpopular and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee abroad to avoid being drafted.
Wives and relatives of some of the reservists called up in 2022 have campaigned for them to be discharged and replaced with contract soldiers. Saturday’s demonstration was organized by one such campaign group, The Way Home, that on Friday posted on Telegram calling on “wives, mothers, sisters and children” of reservists from across Russia to come to Moscow to “demonstrate (their) unity.”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
They marked 500 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2022 ordered a “partial mobilization” of up to 300,000 reservists following battlefield setbacks in Moscow’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
“We want our husbands back alive,” one of the protesters, who only gave her name as Antonina for fear of reprisals, is heard saying in a video published by independent Russian news outlet SOTAvision.
Aware of the public backlash, the Russian military has since late 2022 increasingly sought to bolster the forces in Ukraine by enlisting more volunteers.
Still, the wives’ and relatives’ calls to bring mobilized reservists home have been stonewalled by Russia’s government-controlled media, and some pro-Kremlin politicians have sought to cast them as Western stooges.
The protest came just weeks before the Russian presidential election, scheduled to take place over three days on March 15-17, that Putin is all but assured to win.
Former local legislator Boris Nadezhdin, who openly opposes the war in Ukraine, criticized the Kremlin’s decision to keep them in the ranks as long as the fighting continues.
The original article contains 627 words, the summary contains 174 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Whole divisions are refusing to fight even under threat of being shot by the command. But, the shooting hasn’t started yet.
where do you get that info from?
He made it up
