Protests across Russia see thousands detained: According to rights groups and Russian police, more than 4,300 people were detained at anti-war protests across Russia on Sunday.
According to Ria news agency, which cites the interior ministry, 1,700 people have been detained in Moscow alone.
Detentions were reported in 53 cities, according to the OVD-Info human rights organization.
Despite the fact that protests have been more restricted in recent years, there have been countless gatherings across Russia since the invasion.
Over 10,000 individuals have been detained at protests in the last 11 days, according to OVD-Info.
“The screws are being totally tightened – effectively, we are witnessing military censorship,” OVD-Info spokesperson Maria Kuznetsova told Reuters from Tbilisi, Georgia.
“Today, we’re seeing quite large protests – even in Siberian cities, where such large numbers of arrests are unusual.”
Government critic Alexei Navalny, who is imprisoned on fraud charges, called for daily protests against the invasion earlier this week, saying Russia should not be a “country of fearful cowards.”
However, rights groups claim that a slew of new rules has made it more difficult to protest in Russia in recent years.
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“Although Russian legislation avoids using phrases like ‘permission’ or ‘ban,’ it effectively requires organizers to seek authorization for their assemblies,” according to Amnesty International.
On Sunday, more than 2,500 people were held across Russia, according to the Russian human rights organization OVD-Info, which was founded in 2011.
It publishes the names and locations of those arrested, as well as total figures.
“Each police department may have more detainees than published lists,” it says. “We publish only the names of those people about whom we know for certain and whose names we can publish.”
On Sunday, protests took place all across the world, not only in Russia. A peace rally was allowed in Almaty, Kazakhstan, a Russian ally. Around 2,000 people attended.
Anti-war demonstrators also took to the streets in cities like Brussels, Belgium, and London, United Kingdom.
Russian forces stationed in the southern Ukrainian city of Nova-Kakhovka opened fire to disperse demonstrators.
A video from the city, which is located in the Kherson region, shows demonstrators yelling at Russians to “go home” while gunfire and stun grenades are heard. The protestors seem to be holding their ground.
