Condemnation mounts in russia as kremlin cracks down on dissent
Internal dissent against Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine is mounting in Russia yesterday. Since the invasion began on Thursday more than 1,700 protesters have been arrested across 54 cities in Russia, including 1,000 in Moscow.
The country’s authorities have attempted to crack down on critical voices, but Russian public figures continue to speak out against Russia’s act of aggression against Ukraine. Basketball star Tornike Shengelia said he would not play for his team CSKA Moscow in protest at the invasion. He said: “I take this decision in of protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I do not consider it possible to continue playing for the Russian army club.”
Andrey Rublev, 24, a Russian tennis player, joined the protest yesterday by writing “No war please” on the camera after his semi-final win in Dubai.
Meanwhile children of Russian officials and oligarchs have started speaking out against the invasion as dissent grows. Liza Peskova, the jet-setting 24-yearold daughter of Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, posted a black square with the caption “No to war!” on her Instagram account. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s daughter Sofia shared an anti-putin message on Instagram, it read: “The biggest and most successful lie of Kremlin’s propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin.”
Abramovich himself announced he was handing stewardship of the club to trustees of its charitable foundation, in a move intended to protect the club during the conflict. Russian rapper Oxxxymiron has cancelled a series of shows in Moscow and St Petersburg in protest. Yelena Kovalskaya, director of a state-funded theatre in the Russian capital, she was quitting her job and how it was “impossible to work for a killer and get paid by him”.
“No to War” graffiti was sprayed on walls in Moscow, including the front door of Russia’s parliament. Others scrawled “Adolf Putin” across buildings and in underpasses in St Petersburg. Mothers of Russian soldiers sent into Ukraine, meanwhile, took to social media, desperate for any information about their sons. Tatyana Denisyuk, from Siberia, said she had not heard from her son since Wednesday and was getting worried. She said: “He was sent to the border and was told they would be there for a while. He has no idea where he would be deployed.”