Russian Police Arrest Hundreds at an Anti-war Protest

By Lauren Chalouhi, Editor-in-chief, The Pawprint

It has been reported that Russian police have arrested over 100 people fighting against Russia’s decision to gather over a thousand troops to fight in Ukraine.

Russian human rights group OVD-Info, which is a non-governmental human rights media project, which provides legal aid to those who face persecution for using their freedom of assembly, made a total of arrests of more than 1,300 people. The most arrests were made in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Many people were held in Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg and other Siberian countries. On social media, thousands of pictures showed long lines at the border. “How to leave Russia” is now all over google.

On Wednesday, the Moscow prosecutor’s office warned that anyone who joins in the unauthorized protests or participates in them, can lead up to 15 years in jail. They can be arrested for ‘discrediting the armed forces’, spreading “fake news,” or encouraging minors to participate in a protest.