According to the civil rights organization OVD-Info, the number of arrested protesters is much higher. On Saturday, the organization recorded the arrest of 4,866 people in 59 Russian cities. OVD-Info said that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 10,944 arrests have been made during anti-war demonstrations.

Detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny called on Russians to protest the war on March 6. He also called on people in other countries to take to the streets. “Show the world that the Russians do not want war. Come to the squares in Berlin, New York, Amsterdam or Melbourne, wherever you are. We are responsible for Russia’s future,” the opposition leader said on social media on Friday. “Because of Putin, Russia now equals war for me,” the opposition leader said on social media. to many people. This is not true: it was Putin who attacked Ukraine, not Russia.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also called on residents of Russia on Sunday to protest while they can still do so. “Citizens of Russia. For you, this is not just a struggle for peace in Ukraine. “This is a struggle for your country,” said Zelensky in a televised address, addressing the Russian people in his own language. “If you remain silent now, only then will your poverty speak of you, and only then It is repression that will answer.” According to Zelensky, Russians are faced with the choice between “life and slavery.” Russian is also Zelensky’s first language.

Anti-war protest has been effectively banned in Russia and the authorities in Moscow have called for support for President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s Interior Ministry on Saturday, in response to Navalny’s appeal, warned against stopping illegal protests and holding the organizers accountable.