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Special police officers carry a woman on the Manegeplatz to one of the prisoner transporters: hundreds of arrests
Photo: - / AFP
Andrei just stands there.
In the middle of Manezh Square in the center of Moscow.
He is silent and looks ahead at the many security guards in black uniforms and helmets.
They are called "cosmonauts".
They are special police officers who always march when there are protests.
Of course he's afraid too, says Andrei, looking around.
But he wants to at least try to show that he doesn't agree with the "special military operation" in Ukraine. "I'm not allowed to use the actual word anymore," he says calmly.
In Russia, the war against Ukraine must not be called that, it must be officially called a »special operation«.
Ruler Vladimir Putin has tightened the laws: anyone who spreads information about the Russian military or the campaign in Ukraine that deviates from the official account can now be punished - this includes demonstrators like Andrei, who reject this campaign.
It therefore takes enormous courage to protest publicly against Putin's campaign in Ukraine.
Hundreds more arrests
Around 14,000 people have already been arrested in the past 17 days.
On Sunday, the 18th day, almost 800 people will be added in various Russian cities across the country, according to the civil rights organization OVD-Info.
One of them is Andrei.
He can stay a few more minutes on Moscow's Manege Square, then he is escorted by three police officers to one of the four prisoner vans that are waiting.
He's lucky – if one can write about it at all – the officials don't pull on him.
Other demonstrators, such as a young man who comes onto the square with a sign, are immediately thrown to the ground and carried away by several officers.
Eleven security officers are involved in his arrest.
Some of them have stuck a "Z" in the colors of the Russian flag on their helmets.
The symbol is spreading more and more on social media, but also on the streets of Russian cities: it is the sign of support for Putin's "military operation".
Many of the Russian military transports and tanks in Ukraine bear a "Z" marking.
"I'm very scared," a woman in her 30s can still say, then officials pick her up and push journalists aside.
Pinned to the ground, legs pulled away
It's an unreal atmosphere in the cordoned-off square.
Again and again warnings sounded over the loudspeaker: "You are in an area where actions are possible that have not been authorized by the authorities".
I mean the protests.
Security officials are on the hunt for anyone who might look like a potential protester.
The security forces are far in the majority and are taking action.
A woman who wrote only the slogan "two words" in Russian on her sign - a placeholder for opposing Russia's campaign - is taken away, as is a young man who, because of censorship, painted eight asterisks to represent the forbidden words Has.
In other cities, a white poster is enough to get arrested.
In Yekaterinburg and St. Petersburg, the police sometimes act brutally: people are pushed to the ground and kicked or their legs are pulled off.
In Moscow, too, it happens again and again that special police officers carry people away on all fours.
Higher up along Tverskaya Street, police officers are patrolling everywhere, demanding that younger passers-by in particular see their IDs and also look in their bags and backpacks.
It appears the officers are looking for posters and signs.
Pedestrians have to open cell phones so police officers can see what apps and photos are on the phones, which human rights activists point out is also against the law.
But during the campaign against the neighboring country, a lot has changed, and freedom of expression no longer exists in Russia.
"Oh, we don't need this McDonald's anyway"
At the top of Pushkin Square there are barriers, more police vehicles and officials.
They scrutinize every single pedestrian.
Many just want to say goodbye to the nearby McDonald's restaurant on the other side of the square.
The fast-food chain will temporarily close its 850 branches in the country on Monday because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is said.
Many may not believe this, Russia is gradually becoming more isolated.
Around 60 Western companies, including Ikea and H&M, have already closed their shops or will do so in the coming days.
Two women, around 60, walk by.
"Oh, we don't need this McDonald's anyway," says one.
»What Putin is doing with his military operation in Ukraine is correct.
We must save the Russian-speaking people in Donbass«, the other.
It is the narration that is constantly heard on state television.
“The sanctions affect us normal people”
Inside the McDonald's branch there is a great crowd, people are waiting for their burgers and drinks.
Tatiana, 57, also watches the screen with all the orders.
She can still remember the long queues in front of the first McDonald's restaurant in Moscow more than 30 years ago, she says.
At that time, all TV channels would have shown the pictures, Tatjana still lived in southern Russia and was only able to eat her first burger a few years later.
"It's a shame," she says, about the closure of McDonald's, "but understandable."
She prefers not to talk about the reason for this – the “events”, as she calls it: everything is too delicate.
Outside the door, people are sitting on the benches in the March sun, eating burgers and drinking milkshakes.
In between, police officers patrol.
Igor, 39, says he will miss the Royal Cheeseburger. He cannot understand the nature of the sanctions.
“They affect us normal people.” In addition, US companies like McDonald's are demonized by state propagandists as “Western culture”.
"But if you still want to keep in touch with us people who share Western values, why are you closing all the shops?" asks Igor.
The same applies to the restrictions in the areas of cinema and music.
Igor rejects Russia's offensive against Ukraine: "It's terrible, so many people are dying, so many buildings are being destroyed."
However, the Muscovite doesn't want to protest: "It's just too dangerous, we don't stand a chance against them." Dozens of special police officers are waiting a few meters away.
Sirens sound, prisoner vans drive by at high speed.