Thousands of anti-war Russian protesters took to the streets on Wednesday as hundreds of others packed their bags and fled following President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a partial military mobilization.
The move marks the biggest escalation since the invasion began seven months ago and was made following a series of humiliating setbacks as well as calls from pro-war nationalists who demanded that more resources be devoted to defeating Ukraine. The partial draft would force about 300,000 Russians into military service.
By early afternoon, more than 1,300 anti-war protesters had been detained in more than a dozen cities across the country as the backlash against the increasingly isolated president and his new plan grew.
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In St. Petersburg, police were photographed using batons against protesters who chanted “no mobilization,” according to OVD-Info, an independent watchdog that monitors police activity in Russia.
In central Moscow, hundreds gathered on the Old Arbat, one of the oldest streets in the city, where they chanted, “Send Putin to the trenches!” Footage appeared on social media showing law enforcement officers outfitted in black riot gear dragging people away. The city prosecutor’s office released an ominous statement threatening up to 15 years in prison for anti-war protesters, though the warning seemed to do little to deter those gathered.
“Putin in the trenches.” St. Pete’s, VVP’s hometown. pic.twitter.com/VyPJUYu1cm
— Michael Weiss ????? (@michaeldweiss) September 21, 2022
One activist from the Sverdlovsk region was taken into custody and charged with “use of violence against a representative of the authorities.” She has been denied access to her lawyer, Natalia Novikova, who was blocked from entering the police station where she is being held, according to the publication Vecherniye Vedomosti.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, a growing number of citizens have also criticized the war effort online. Their views have been targeted by Russian authorities.
A petition on Change.org rebuking orders for military mobilization, partial and full, neared its goal of 300,000 signatures in a matter of hours.
In all, about 16,500 people have been detained, pre-mobilization announcement, for engaging in some type of anti-war activity, which includes holding up a blank piece of paper in public, OVD-Info reported.
For some Russians, leaving their homeland, at least temporarily, seemed like the only viable option.
Video uploaded on social media showed long lines of Russians trying to cross the border into Georgia at the Larsi checkpoint on foot and by car.
Russians line up in the queues to enter Georgia at the Larsi Checkpoint.
Georgian people concerned, government completely ignores another wave of the Russian influx and long-demanded #VisaRegimeForRussians. pic.twitter.com/VvdsRfN2V5
— Katie Shoshiashvili (@KShoshiashvili) September 21, 2022
Earlier in the day, flights to Turkey and Armenia sold out quickly. Russians may enter both nations without a visa. Flights to Baku, Azerbaijan, and Almaty, Kazakhstan, were also in high demand, with ticket prices soaring to five times the normal rate.
In the long run, Putin’s decision to push his fellow countrymen into war may “ignite a political backlash that might be an ultimate political undoing,” Sean McFate, an Army veteran and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Newsweek.
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“I think it’s an act of desperation,” he said. “He’s emptied all the jails and he’s used up all the mercenaries, and now, he is going to turn to core Russia. This is a gamble because he’s old enough to remember that in the Soviet-Afghan War, the only successful peace protests in Soviet history were the mothers of the disappeared or dead soldiers.”
