According to civil rights organization OVD-Info, the number of arrested demonstrators is much higher. On Saturday, the organization registered the detention of 4,866 people in 59 Russian cities. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 10,944 have been detained during anti-war demonstrations, OVD-Info said.
Detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalni had called on Russians to protest the war on March 6. He also called on people in other countries to take to the streets. “Show the world that Russians don’t want war. Come to the squares in Berlin, New York, Amsterdam or Melbourne, wherever. We are responsible for the future of Russia,” the opposition leader said on social media on Friday. “Because of Putin, Russia now equates to war for many people. That is not correct: it was Putin who attacked Ukraine, not Russia.”
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky also called on residents of Russia on Sunday to protest while they still can. “Citizens of Russia. For you, this is not just a struggle for peace in Ukraine. This is a struggle for your country,” Zelensky said in a televised speech, addressing the Russian people directly in their own language. “If you remain silent now, later only your poverty will speak for you, and only oppression will then answer.” According to Zelensky, Russians face the choice between “life and slavery.” Russian is also Zelensky’s first language.
Protest against the war has been virtually banned in Russia and the authorities in Moscow have called for their support of President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s interior ministry warned on Saturday in response to Navalni’s appeal that illegal protests would be stopped and organizers held accountable.