Russian police briefly detained at least twenty journalists on Saturday during a rally under the Kremlin walls organized by wives of soldiers fighting in Ukraine who were demanding the return of their husbands from the front.
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An AFP videographer arrested during this demonstration said that around 20 to 25 journalists, all men, were with him in a police van and were taken to a police station for identity checks.
About three hours later, all of those journalists were released after receiving a warning from the Russian Interior Ministry, according to the AFP videographer.
Among those arrested were several employees of foreign media, including the American press agency AP, the Dutch media NOS, the German magazine Spiegel and a French independent reporter.
Before these arrests, between 40 and 50 mobilized women laid flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the walls of the Kremlin near Red Square.
AFP
According to the independent media Sota Vision, there were also some arrests of demonstrators against military mobilization in front of the headquarters of Vladimir Putin's presidential election campaign in Moscow.
The Moscow public prosecutor's office warned in Telegram this morning of possible criminal prosecution in the event of participation in “unauthorized demonstrations.”
For several weeks now, wives of soldiers mobilized to fight in Ukraine have been meeting regularly in protest.
The anger of the relatives of the reservists mobilized on Vladimir Putin's orders in September 2022 is a sensitive issue for the authorities, who have so far been careful not to suppress this emerging rebellious movement.
In recent months, several groups have emerged on social networks aimed at relatives of mobilized soldiers. One of the most active, called “Pout Domoï” (“The Way Home”), calls for demonstrations every Saturday.
AFP
Previously, police had not intervened in other demonstrations of this kind in Moscow, although any start of a protest in Russia is usually heavily repressed.
The activism of mobilized women has been largely ignored by Russian state media as the Kremlin seeks to project an image of unity around Mr Putin ahead of his inevitable re-election in the March 2024 presidential election.
According to Vladimir Putin, 244,000 mobilized troops are currently fighting in Ukraine with a total strength of 617,000 men.