"Any protest against Putin," said one observer,"will be dealt with harshly in Russia. This takes real conviction and courage."More than 1,100 people and counting have been arrested at anti-war protests held in 38 cities across Russia following President Vladimir Putin's Wednesdaythat as many as 300,000 reservists will be called up to serve in a"partial mobilization" aimed at beating back Ukraine's counteroffensive.
"Thousands of Russian men... will be thrown into the meat grinder of the war. What will they be dying for?""The most valuable thing that they can take from us is the life of our children," one unnamed Moscow resident."I won't give them [the] life of my child." Asked whether protesting would make a difference, she said:"It won't help, but it's my civic duty to express my stance.
Russia's criminalization of anti-war dissent, journalist and author Laurie Garrett noted on social media, means that it takes"real conviction and courage" for people to hit the streets.reporter Matthew Luxmoore shared footage of protests from Moscow and St. Petersburg.The Globe and MailRussian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
in a video message from jail recorded and published by his lawyers that Putin's mobilization order makes clear that"the criminal war is getting worse, deepening, and Putin is trying to involve as many people as possible in this."The Vesna Youth Democratic Movement, meanwhile, issued an online appeal urging Russian soldiers to resist Putin's war on Ukraine.
"We call on the Russian military in units and at the frontline to refuse to participate in the 'special operation' or to surrender as soon as possible," the group"You don't have to die for Putin," the statement continued."You are needed in Russia by those who love you. For the authorities, you are just cannon fodder, where you will be squandered without any meaning or purpose.