Thousands of anti-war protesters were met with police resistance as they took to the streets and squares of Russia to rally against President Vladimir Putin’s surprise invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
Videos of protesters chanting anti-war slogans have been circulated widely on social media with many praising the stern stand of Russians against their President.
The protesters carried peace flags and placards saying ‘No to war’ and other peacemaking slogans.
More than 2,000 anti-war protesters across the 53 cities have been arrested so far as the Russian invasion entered the fifth day today, OVD-Info monitor reported. Most of the arrests were made in Moscow and St Petersburg, where the crowds were biggest, The Guardian reported.
Riot police outnumbered the protesters and tried to deafen their slogans by blasting patriotic music from loudspeakers, Al Jazeera reported. Police tackled the unsanctioned protests in combat gear using force from time to time and ordering to clear the areas off on loudspeakers.
Putin, in an aggressive move, has ordered the country’s nuclear forces to be on high alert claiming “unfriendly steps” from the West on Day 5 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Defiant Ukrainians have put up a brave fight on the ground fearlessly facing Russians and attacking them with homemade weapons like Molotov cocktails.
352 civilian deaths have been reported by Ukraine so far. The figure includes 14 children as well. Russia has acknowledged that a number of its forces had been killed or injured. The EU has said that more than 7 million people could be displaced by the raging conflict.
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