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There are protests in Russia by mobilized wives calling on Putin to bring their husbands home from the war in Ukraine, writes the British edition of the Times.
In the article titled “Angry women tell Putin: Bring our men back from Ukraine,” the journalists recount how a Russian woman was protesting near the Kremlin with a poster in her hand when she was suddenly arrested by police. Arrests of protesters are not uncommon in Moscow, but this case is different because Maria Andreyeva is the wife of a soldier fighting in Ukraine.
Perhaps the worst-case scenario for Putin is that women and mothers will take to the streets in large numbers ahead of March’s presidential election, which is expected to be as closely monitored as ever. Some women believe police warned them that they would be charged with extremism if they continued to speak out.
Last month, the Telegram channel “The Way Home” reported that some soldiers had received orders from the security service to force their wives to “stand still.”
Isolated women’s protests, petitions and direct appeals to Putin are becoming increasingly visible, revealing cracks in Russian society almost two years after the invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin is believed to have ordered authorities to prevent the demonstrations from spreading at all costs.
“Convince, promise, pay. Anything to keep it off the streets,” officials were told, according to opposition website Insider.
According to Andreeva, she was fully aware that she and other women could be arrested. “It is very easy to be charged with a crime for criticizing the authorities in Russia,” she said, “but I acted in the best interests of my family.”
Their poster read: “Freedom to the mobilized! Bring back our husbands, fathers and sons!” She was later released without charge, possibly because the Kremlin wanted to keep quiet about such protests.
In recent weeks, Andreyeva, 34, has become the best-known face of a growing movement of wives and mothers seeking to pressure President Putin to bring their husbands and sons home from war.
In September 2022, Russia conscripted around 300,000 people into the army. Those who were not killed or wounded remain at the front and it is unclear when they will be allowed to return.
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