St. Petersburg
In Russia, people in dozens of cities protested against the invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday. A well-known artist and activist was also arrested.
With new protests against Russia’s attack on the Ukraine 724 people have been arrested in Russian cities. This is reported by the civil rights portal Owd-Info, which also published a list of the names of those arrested on Wednesday evening.
On Wednesday there were protests in more than 25 Russian cities. Since the beginning of the anti-war demonstrations, 7,586 people have been taken into custody.
Yelena Osipova is said to be among those arrested on Wednesday. She is an artist and a well-known activist. A video was circulated on Twitter showing Osipova being taken away by two police officers.
Osipova: “Been arrested many times”
Osipova says she taught art for 30 years. Only in 2015, when she was over 70, did she have her first exhibition in Russian St. Petersburg. In an interview with the news portal “Russian Reader”, she reported that she had often been arrested during protests – including a protest against one G20 summit, on which she appeared with an anti-war poster. “Since then I have been arrested many times, sometimes quite roughly,” says Osipova.
Even after annexation It is important for Crimea to show up on the street, says Osipova. People felt “that they are not alone with their thoughts, that there are other people who think the same way”.
The horror of the war against Ukraine drives in Russia People took to the streets to protest. The authorities warn against participating in the unauthorized rallies. Under the pretext of contagion Coronavirus To want to prevent, demonstrations are not allowed.