Tensions and police repression on the streets of Russia continued to intensify.Despite the warnings from the authorities, a large proportion of citizens are still going out again Protest against the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin’s handling of the conflict. More than 745 people were arrested in 32 Russian cities on Saturday. This is the second day of demonstrations against the mobilization ordered by the country’s president, Vladimir Putinwith the aim of reversing the recent military defeat.
In that hour, almost half of the arrests, 371 people, were recorded in Moscow. exist St. PetersburgIn the country’s second-largest city, where 128 people were detained, police used batons and tasers on protesters, local media reported.
Saturday’s demonstration was the second against Putin’s order to mobilize, a measure that Putin sees as a defense of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.The day before Thursday’s protests, a day after Kremlin leaders announced their mobilization, they Around 1,400 people arrested across Russia.
[Putin eleva la presión en Ucrania y la UE alerta de que es “el momento más peligroso” de la guerra]
Russia corners its soldiers
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, 300,000 reservists will be recruited within the framework of this extraordinary measure. However, the presidential mobilization decree contains a secret point that, according to some media, it considers calling up as many as 1 million people, which the Kremlin denies.
Rights groups and activists disproportionately target calls Minorities in remote or impoverished regions of Russia, away from Moscow. However, recruiters in Moscow have found a new source of recruitment: protesters arrested this week at anti-war demonstrations. Decisions that can be repeated after this Saturday’s events.
Earlier this week, Putin signed A new law rules Russian troops who refuse to fightdeserting, defying or surrendering the enemy may now face up to 10 years in prisonaccording to Russian media reports.
exist #Moscowthe “astronaut” brutally dragged a man into a rice cart. pic.twitter.com/9iiGfBZsqa
— Next (@nexta_tv) September 24, 2022
In addition, the Russian president has accelerated bureaucratic procedures to obtain Russian citizenship for foreigners fighting against Ukrainemeasures aimed at attracting Russian immigrant workers from countries of the former Soviet Union. However, andLast Wednesday, the embassies of those countries in Moscow warned their citizens that it was illegal to participate in foreign wars.
Another current issue regarding the invasion of Ukraine is related to the holding of referendums in some territories occupied by Russia (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson). Authorities in these places are forcing the people to vote in favor of approving the annexation of these areas. Voting will run for five days until next Tuesday, although the outcome is in no doubt.
illegal referendum
These referendums are illegal under Ukrainian and international law because they do not meet the basic democratic standards of free and fair elections.Western leaders, including US President Joe Bidendescribing the process as a “farce” whose sole purpose was to prepare for Russia’s “theft of Ukrainian land.”
[Putin destituye al jefe de logística tras los últimos fracasos de Rusia en territorio ucraniano]
Some Russian officials and their separatist proxies have said they hope the vote will favor the absorption of the regions. The process will be completed “very soon” once the results are officially announced. Kremlin.
The speed with which the referendum was announced and implemented, as well as the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of Russian reserves, reflected the Kremlin’s acquiescence in the deterioration of its military position in Ukraine. All of this action happened in less than a week. After the February 24 invasion of Ukraine Unable to occupy Kyiv, Russian troops were forced to retreat in the northeast of the countrys and were under pressure on the front lines of the war.
Ukrainians with ties to relatives and friends in occupied territories describe how Group of people holding Kalashnikov riflesaccompanied by a person with a portable ballot box, went door-to-door in apartment buildings and houses to force the people to vote.
“Referendum held under the barrel of an automatic rifle in the occupied city of Kherson”, Galina Lukhova, head of the city’s military administration, assured. He explained: “They rang the apartment’s bell, broke the doors of those who wouldn’t open the door, and asked people to come out and do one. They agreed to join the Russian Federation. mark. “
In his usual Friday night speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky“These referendums are not only crimes against international law and Ukrainian law. They are crimes against specific groups of people, against the country.”
Zelensky also assured that pro-Russian authorities have asked Ukrainians in these areas to fight the Kyiv army, and the president said they must avoid the problem “by any means.” However, if they are eventually selected, Zelensky called on them to”disrupt the activities of any enemy and hinder any Russian action, provide us with any important information about the occupants. “
As the referendum progresses, Russian officials have sought to give the process apparent legitimacy.These follow the roadmap they used in previous polls such as Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Pro-Kremlin media have shown photos of people queuing to enter polling booths, but Ukrainian officials say they came by bus from elsewhere, or were plainclothes soldier.
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