True courage: Russians protest Ukraine invasion

Great to see. These people are risking long prison sentences – or death.

This article from the WSJ and see video from The Sun (UK)  below.

In the U.S., it’s easy to become cynical observing Hollywood celebrities pretending to be brave as they mouth politically correct talking points and broadcast cost-free virtue signals. But in Russia criticizing Putin’s depredations can cost everything.

At great personal risk, brave people across Russia are voicing their opposition to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. James Beardsworth reports for the Moscow Times:

Muscovites were in a state of shock on Thursday after waking to the news that Russia had invaded neighboring Ukraine…

The Kremlin on Thursday said it believes Russians will “support” the Kremlin’s operations in Moscow, but feelings of anger and helplessness were prevalent in the capital.

“Nothing good will come out of this. We don’t need war, we need to be able to come to agreements,” said computer programmer Dmitry, 36.

Over 60 activists and journalists were reported in local media to have been arrested on Thursday, with pop stars, late-night television hosts and film directors posting black squares to Instagram, and single-person pickets popping up across the country.

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Dozens of Russians have been detained in cities across the country for protesting against the war against Ukraine, independent monitors said Thursday.

Solo pickets — essentially the only legal form of public protest in Russia — in protest of the war have taken place from the southern city of Tolyatti to the Far East city of Khabarovsk… several anti-war protesters who had gathered at the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow were detained.

In Russia’s fourth-largest city Yekaterinburg, more than 100 people took part in an anti-war protest, according to the Znak.com news website.

Moscow prosecutors warned that unauthorized gatherings are illegal and will lead to “negative consequences,” and the federal Investigative Committee issued a special warning to “unpermitted” anti-war demonstrators.

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Reuters reports that “Russian police detained more than 1,400 people at anti-war protests in 51 cities on Thursday according to the OVD-INFO protest monitor,”

Police Detain Protesters in Russia Opposing War With Ukraine Russian police officers detained anti-war protesters demonstrating in multiple cities, including Moscow, on February 24.

More protests took place in other cities in Russia, including St Petersburg and Novosibirsk, to express opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

More than 1,750 protesters in 58 cities across Russia have been detained by authorities, according to human rights organization OVD-Info.

These videos show protests and ensuing police crackdowns in Moscow, St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Perm.