Status: 02/26/2022 3:30 p.m
Anyone who wants to take to the streets in Russia to protest against the attack on Ukraine must expect arrest. Nevertheless, there are increasing numbers of voices in the country calling for exactly that – in petitions or on social networks.
More and more Russians are petitioning Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine immediately. Numerous doctors have written an open letter to the President: “We, Russian doctors, nurses and paramedics, are resolutely opposed to acts of war carried out by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine,” the letter said initially around 300 and now several thousand signatures.
“We have sworn to help all people, regardless of their nationality, religion or political views. Yet acts of war will take many lives and destroy many destinies, and we will not be able to counter it – no matter how much we try.”
Many of them have relatives and friends in Ukraine, write the doctors. “There is none among them who would benefit in any way from the bloodshed.” Human life is priceless. “It takes a moment to kill a person, while healing can take years,” the letter continues.
Dozens of Russian aid organizations also published an open letter to Putin asking him to end the war. “War is a humanitarian catastrophe that increases pain and suffering. (…) We consider violent methods to resolve political conflicts to be inhumane and call on you to stop the fire and start negotiations.”
MP: “Didn’t want to start a war”
A deputy from the Communist Party also called for an end to the war. He did not want to trigger a war with his vote in parliament for the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR/LNR) as independent states. “I think that the war should end immediately. By voting for the recognition of the DNR/LNR, I voted for peace and not for war,” said Mikhail Matveyev. “For Russia becoming a protective shield so they don’t bomb Donbass – and not to bomb Kiev.”
In the social networks, many cultural and media workers as well as public figures and ordinary citizens expressed their horror at the war against Ukraine.
Numerous arrests during protests
But many Russians are afraid of taking part in street protests. Since Thursday, more than 2,000 people have been arrested during demonstrations against Putin’s war.
The Russian authorities speak of a military operation and are taking action against the use of the word “war” in the media. Any media using the term is threatened with being shut down. In a large residential and work complex in central Moscow, where many diplomats and foreign correspondents live and work alongside Russian officials, foreign television channels have been shut down for days. The building management justified this with a failure of the satellite systems and offered to activate Russian state broadcasters.