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06th Mar 2022

Over 11,000 Russian citizens arrested at anti-war protests since February

Hugh Carr

anti war protest russia

Over 4,000 protesters were arrested today.

Over 11,000 Russian civilians have been arrested for attending anti-war protests since the invasion of Ukraine since 24 February.

The numbers were collected and published by OVD-Info, an independent human rights project based in Russia.

As of the time of publishing, 4359 protesters have been arrested in 56 different cities across the country since the war first broke out.

OVD-Info have shared resources for those that have been arrested, including a list of those that have been confirmed to have been detained.

Russia’s parliament has passed a law which means that those spreading “false information” at anti-war protests could face up to 15 years in prison.

Videos have also emerged of Moscow police stopping passers-by in random searches, and checking their phones for any incriminating messages.

The video shows young men being stopped and asked for their phones, with police scrolling through messages.

Despite the risks, massive protests continue to take place across the country.

Huge protests have also taken place across the world, in particular at Russian embassies.

Russian Ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov has accused Irish people of being at the forefront of “anti-Russian events” in the EU.

Filatov made the comments during an interview with the state-owned Russia 24 television station after being asked if there was a threat to Russian citizens located in Ireland.

“The situation is frankly difficult,” he said.

“Naturally, the general political situation is simply hostile towards Russia and everything Russian.”

Filatov also claimed that Russian citizens in Ireland have been receiving threats and that there have been cases of bullying.

“In my opinion, the Irish are kind and responsive but sometimes when they absolutely don’t understand the situation, they take sides without any analysis and they act based on it.

“This is influencing our kids unfortunately who are studying here.”

One protest in Ireland included a priest who threw red paint at the gates of the Russian Embassy in Dublin while on the phone to radio presenter Joe Duffy on Friday (4 March).

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