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People in Makhachkala: Dagestan is one of the poorest areas in Russia - critics accuse the Kremlin of conscripting a particularly large number of men in places like this
Photo: IMAGO/Stringer / IMAGO/ITAR-TASS
The Russian leadership wants to draft hundreds of thousands of reservists for the war in Ukraine.
There are protests against the mobilization, in which the state authorities sometimes take brutal action against demonstrators.
According to activists, more than a hundred people were arrested on Sunday in the city of Makhachkala in the Caucasus region of Dagestan.
This was reported by the organization OWD-Info, which specializes in observing opposition actions.
Russian media released videos showing women arguing with police officers during the demonstration.
"Why are you taking our children?" asks one of them.
Other videos show police brutally taking protesters into custody.
Dagestan is one of the poorest regions of Russia
One of the poorest regions of Russia, Dagestan is a multi-ethnic region with a Muslim majority.
Critics accuse Moscow of primarily wanting to conscript men from poor and remote regions for the war in Ukraine.
In fact, Dagestan is among the areas with the highest proportion of combat deaths in Ukraine, according to internet obituaries and counts by independent Russian media.
To reassure the population, the region's military commissioner said over the weekend that initially only men with "special military skills" would be drafted, not conscripts.
Since the announcement of what the Kremlin calls "partial mobilization," protests have erupted in several places in Russia.
According to OWD-Info, more than 2,300 protesters have been arrested since September 21.
The anti-war protests are officially banned – the police approach is correspondingly draconian.
Videos from St. Petersburg were published on social networks showing men in combat uniform and helmets beating demonstrators.
According to OWD-Info, eyewitnesses reported that the security forces also used stun guns.
muk/AFP