MOSCOW/FRANKFURT: Russia detained more than 800 people for protesting Moscow’s “military operation” in Ukraine on Sunday, as the conflict continues for a third week.

OVD-Info, which monitors arrests during protests, said police had detained 800 people during demonstrations in 23 Russian cities.

A journalist present at a protest in the capital Moscow witnessed at least a dozen arrests and said police were taking away anybody without press papers.

A young woman was shouting “peace to the world” as she was taken away by two policemen, the journalist saw.

Tens of thousands join demonstrations in Germany

Some of the riot police had the letter “Z” in the colours of the Russian flag on their helmets, the reporter said.

The letter, seen on Russian tanks and vehicles in Ukraine, has become a symbol of support for what Moscow calls its “special military operation”.

In Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg, this news agency’s reporter saw multiple arrests, including a protester being dragged across the ground.

The city’s central Nevsky Avenue was closed off by police with a dozen police vans parked along the road. According to the reporter, several journalists were detained.

Dressed in a yellow hat and blue jacket, 20-year-old Kristina said she was “expressing her protest” by wearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

“It’s scary to go outside, of course, they are detaining everyone. Many of my friends have been detained in the past few days, some were even expelled from university,” she said. Last weekend, police arrested more than 5,000 protesters across Russia.

Protesters risk fines and possible prison sentences by taking to the streets.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across Germany on Sunday to call for peace and protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, police and organisers said.

Anti-war demos in Germany

A sea of people carrying yellow and blue signs that read “Stop Putin” and “Stop the War” massed at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, with police estimating turnout in the capital at between 20,000 and 30,000.

In Frankfurt, around 11,000 people gathered in solidarity with Ukrainians, according to a police spokesman, who said the rallies proceeded “peacefully and without incident”.

Demonstrators there waved Ukrainian and European Union flags and chanted “Stoppt den Krieg” (Stop the war), a reporter at the scene said.

Colourful marches also took place in Stuttgart, Leipzig and Hamburg, drawing in young and old, including families with children.

The demos were organised by an alliance of more than 40 rights organisations, campaign groups, unions and church groups.

The organisers put turnout nationwide at around 125,000 people.

In a written appeal, organisers condemned the “increasingly brutal” attacks against civilians in Ukraine, and praised the courage of Russians protesting against Moscow’s actions.

“Together, we call on Putin to immediately stop the attacks, withdraw from Ukraine and restore the nation’s territorial integrity,” the letter said.

The turnout in Berlin on Sunday was smaller than the 100,000-strong crowd that attended a Ukraine solidarity march in the capital two weeks ago, three days after Russia launched its invasion.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2022