The independent protest monitoring group OVD-Info said that according to information it had gathered from 38 Russian cities, more than 1,311 people had been detained by late evening. It said those numbers included at least 502 in Moscow and 524 in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second most populous city. Unsanctioned gatherings are illegal under Russia’s anti-protest laws. Russian Interior Ministry official Irina Volk, in a statement cited by Russian news agencies, said officers had stopped efforts to hold what she called small demonstrations. “In many areas, there were attempts at unauthorized actions that gathered an extremely small number of participants,” Volk was quoted as saying. “All that stopped. And all the people who violated the laws were arrested and taken to police stations for investigation and determination of their responsibility.” One-way flights from Russia soared in price and sold out quickly on Wednesday after Putin ordered the immediate call-up of 300,000 reservists. The opposition Vesna movement called for protests, saying: “Thousands of Russian men, our fathers, brothers and husbands, will be thrown into the meat grinder of war. What will they die for? What will mothers and children cry?’ Moscow’s prosecutor’s office warned that organizing or participating in protests could lead to up to 15 years in prison. Authorities have issued similar warnings before other protests. Wednesday was the first nationwide anti-war demonstrations since the fighting began in late February. AFP reporters in central Moscow said at least 50 people were arrested by police wearing riot gear on a main shopping street. In St. Petersburg, AFP reporters saw police officers surround a small group of protesters and detain them one by one, loading them onto a bus. Protesters chanted “No mobilization!” “Everyone is scared. I’m for peace and I don’t want to have to shoot. But to come out now is very dangerous, otherwise there would be a lot more people,” said protester Vasily Fedorov, a student wearing a pacifist symbol on his chest. “I came out to the rally planning to join, but it seems they’ve already arrested everyone. This regime has condemned itself and is destroying its youth,” said Alexei, a 60-year-old resident who declined to give his last name. “Why do you serve Putin, a man who has been in power for 20 years!” a young protester yelled at a police officer. “I came to say that I am against war and mobilization,” Oksana Sidorenko, a student, told AFP. “Why are they deciding my future for me? I’m afraid for myself, for my brother,” he added. Alina Skvortsova, 20, said she hoped Russians would soon understand the nature of the Kremlin’s attack on neighboring Ukraine. “Once they really understand, they will take to the streets, despite the fear,” he said. In Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, police bussed some of the 40 protesters arrested at an anti-war rally. A woman in a wheelchair shouted, referring to the Russian president: “Bald head job. He’s going to drop a bomb on us, and we’re all still protecting him. I’ve said enough.” The Interfax news agency cited Russia’s Interior Ministry as suspending efforts to “organize unauthorized gatherings.” All demonstrations were halted and those who committed “violations” were arrested and taken away by police pending investigation and prosecution, he added. With Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
