The Times writes that the worst-case scenario for Putin is that wives and mothers take to the streets in large numbers ahead of the presidential election in March.
Russia is beset by protests from the wives of the mobilized women, who demand that Putin bring their husbands home from the war in Ukraine. The British publication writes about this The Times in the material “Angry wives tell Putin: bring back our men from Ukraine.”
Journalists told how the day before a Russian woman went to a protest near the Kremlin with a protest poster in her hands, when she was suddenly detained by the police. Arrests of demonstrators are not unusual in Moscow, but this was different because Maria Andreeva is the wife of a Russian soldier who is fighting in Ukraine.
The worst-case scenario for Putin is that wives and mothers take to the streets in large numbers ahead of presidential elections in March, which are expected to be as tightly controlled as ever. Some women say police have warned them they will be charged with extremism if they continue to speak out. Last month, the Telegram channel Road to Home reported that some soldiers had received orders from the FSB to force their wives to “shut up.”
Scattered women’s protests, petitions and direct appeals to Putin are becoming increasingly visible, exposing cracks in Russian society almost two years after the invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin is believed to have ordered authorities to stop the spread of demonstrations at any cost.
“Persuade, promise, pay. Anything to keep it from going out onto the streets,” officials were told, according to the opposition website Insider.
According to Andreeva, she understood perfectly well that she and other wives could be arrested. “It’s very easy to get charged with a crime for criticizing the authorities in Russia, – she said, – but I act in the interests of my family.”
“Our guys are busting their asses on the front for the authorities, and they detained the wife of a mobilized soldier. Can you believe it?” – she screamed as she was taken away.
Her poster read: “Freedom to the mobilized! Bring back our husbands, fathers and sons!”
She was later released without charge, possibly because the Kremlin is keen to keep a low profile on such protests.
In recent weeks, Andreeva, 34, has become the most public face of a growing movement of wives and mothers trying to pressure President Putin to bring their husbands and sons home from the war. In September 2022, Russia conscripted about 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.
Earlier, the wives of those mobilized made claims to Putin near the building of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
And mobs from the Irkutsk region are threatening the mayor of their city with revenge for lying.
Author: Mark Voroshilov
2024-01-22 13:55:09
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