Hundreds More Arrested Across Russia on Day 2 of Anti-War Protests

"I felt extremely ashamed and helpless," one Russian demonstrator said of the invasion. The 20-something school teacher asked The Moscow Times for anonymity to protect against reprisals.
"It was important for me to show that Putin's decision is not the people's decision," she said of protesting in Moscow. "Not even close."
Protesters knew they risked arrest as they took to the streets across Russia, with authorities warning "negative comments" about the invasion would be treated as "treason."
In a Friday statement denouncing the invasion, a spokesperson for United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that "we are also disturbed by the multiple arbitrary arrests of demonstrators in Russia who were protesting against war yesterday."
"We understand more than 1,800 protesters were arrested," the spokesperson noted. "It is unclear whether some have now been released. Arresting individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of expression or of peaceful assembly constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty. We call on the authorities to ensure the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained for exercising these rights."
Despite that call from the U.N. and similar criticism from around the world, arrests of anti-war protesters in Russia continued Friday.
Russians' protests and arrests came as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) activated parts of its Response Force, calls mounted for an investigation of Russia's alleged war crimes, and civilians in Ukraine sought safety as their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warned that Friday night "will be very difficult" while Putin's forces advanced on the capital city of Kyiv.
The United States and European Union also ramped up sanctions in response to the ongoing assault, specifically targeting Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
In a series of tweets on Friday, Anton Barbashin, editorial director of Riddle, an online journal on Russian affairs, explained the risks that protesters face.
For years, the "Russian legal and political system has been repressing the most active civic society leaders, those capable of gathering support for street activity," and the government adapted a "multitude of laws that penalize protests of any kind," he wrote.
"Despite all that… we are seeing massive protests all across the country for the second day in the row," he noted. "That is both inspiring and astonishing. I would like this to be known and reported. That Russians showed their disagreement with what Putin does to Ukraine."
Russian police detained not only demonstrators but also journalists covering the protests.
The Associated Press reported Friday that "Yelena Chernenko, a journalist with the Kommersant daily, said she was kicked out of the Foreign Ministry pool over an open letter condemning the attack on Ukraine that has been signed by nearly 300 reporters."
The Russian government also partially restricted access to Facebook.
"Yesterday, Russian authorities ordered us to stop the independent fact-checking and labeling of content posted on Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organizations. We refused. As a result, they have announced they will be restricting the use of our services," said Nick Clegg, president of global affairs a Meta, the social media network's parent company.
"Ordinary Russians are using our apps to express themselves and organize for action. We want them to continue to make their voices heard, share what's happening, and organize through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger," he added, referencing other Meta platforms.
More than 620,000 people have signed a Change.org petition for Russians opposed to Putin's military action, calling for an immediate withdrawal from Ukraine and appealing to "all sane people in Russia" to join the anti-war movement.