Protests are taking place in 32 cities of Russia.
According to the independent monitoring group OVS-Info, on Saturday, Russian authorities detained more than 700 people at protests against the partial mobilization announced this week by President Vladimir Putin.
A police monitoring group counted at least 726 people detained in 32 Russian cities, almost half of them are in Moscow, at rallies after partial mobilization.
According to an AFP journalist, there were many policemen in the central areas of Chistye Stavky in Moscow.
Most of the protesters walked by or stood still – alone or in small groups – to avoid being spotted and detained by police.
AFP said police detained about 20 people.
“We not cannon fodder!” – the woman shouted, and she was taken away by the policemen.
In the second largest city of Russia, St. Petersburg, the AFP agency saw a police van with about 30 detainees. Protesters in St. Petersburg also tried to be careful – the police swept away all suspects.
22-year-old Ilya Frolov held a sign with the inscription “peace”.
“I want to express my disagreement with what is happening… I don't want to fight for Putin,” he said.
“I am against war and against mobilization. I'm afraid for the youth,” said 70-year-old Nataliya Dubova.
After Putin announced partial mobilization on Wednesday, the Russian authorities detained more than 1,300 people.
Read Also: ISW Explained How Mobilization Will Exacerbate Social Tensions in Russia
Earlier, in a speech on March 8, Putin stated that Russia would not take such a step, nor would it send conscripts to war with Ukraine .
After the announcement of the start of mobilization in Russia, car queues lined up at the borders of the Russian Federation with neighboring states, in particular, with Kazakhstan, Georgia, Mongolia, and Finland, and prices for international air tickets rose significantly.
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Meanwhile, Berlin said that the effort to avoid mobilization in Russia would be considered a compelling reason for obtaining political asylum in Germany.
