Ukraine: More than 1,300 arrested after Putin’s mobilisation announcement sparks protests across Russia | World News
Protesters clashed with police in Moscow as anger flared over Vladimir Putin’s announcement of partial mobilization in Russia.
Crowds took to the streets in the Russian capital after The Kremlin announced that it would increase 300,000 reserves to continue invading Ukraine.
Protesters shouted “No war” to show defiance as some were pinned to the ground or dragged away after being arrested by armed police.
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At least 300 people were in Moscow among more than 1,371 people detained across 38 cities across the country on Wednesday night.
Reporting from the capital, Sky News reporter Diana Magnay said protesters were being treated “brutal”, and described the crowd as “extraordinary brave” for publicly expressing their views. they are in police status.
“We haven’t seen protests in cities for the past five or six months, people have been so scared about the fact that they’re going to be detained, and that’s clearly what’s happening,” Magnay said. “.
The Russians have faced the prospect of being detained for participating in an anti-government protest for years – but they have also been silenced by military censorship since the invasion began on 24 February .
Thousands of people joined anti-war protests at the start of the conflict – despite the potential consequences, including job loss and even imprisonment – but now many are too scared to dare. Speak up.
“Many people are worried about escalation and don’t want to fight,” Magnay added.
Footage of the scuffles showed multiple uniformed officers surrounding individual protesters.
A woman is seen being escorted away as she tries to stop police from arresting another male protester.
Hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against local mobilization.
A woman was attacked by officers in Moscow.
However, some older generations believe mobilization is necessary, Magnay said.
Putin addressed the nation this morning for the first time since sending troops into battle in February, in what Russia described as a “special military operation”.
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In a pre-recorded clip, he emphasized the order to only mobilize a part: “Only reserve people can enlist”.
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In an announcement speech about the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, the Russian President said he would use ‘weapons of destruction’ to defend his country.
But he claimed Russia would use every tool in its arsenal to defend its territory as he issued a nuclear threat to Western leaders, warning them: “I don’t lie”.
The Kremlin previously said it was not considering full or partial mobilization.
This morning’s announcement comes two weeks after Ukraine’s swift offensive saw them regain control of towns in the Kharkiv region – such as Moscow was forced to withdraw from two frontline positions.
Many people scrambled to leave Russia with flights scheduled to depart from Moscow are sold outwhen the price of anything else soars into the thousands of pounds.
