In Moscow, Russians continue to fuel an improvised memorial to victims in Ukraine

Russians continued, despite the repression, to lay flowers on an improvised memorial for the victims of the deadly bombardment nine days ago of a building in Dnipro, Ukraine, AFP journalists noted on Monday.

Since this strike which left 46 dead, attributed to Russian forces by kyiv, Russians have come to lay flowers, photographs and messages at the foot of the statue in Moscow of a Ukrainian poet, Lessia Oukraïnka, thus setting up a makeshift memorial to the victims.

Recidivism despite arrests

Unidentified people cleaned the monument several times, and police made arrests, but the tributes continued.

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Present at the memorial on Monday morning, AFP journalists saw a woman laying flowers in front of the police in a car, while other bouquets were already placed at the foot of the statue.

Testimonials

“

, ”Elena Ivanova, a 63-year-old mathematician, told AFP, after placing her bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums, bowing and signing.

“

,” she said.

Alexander Voloshin, a 40-year-old tourist guide, stood in front of the monument for several minutes, taking off his hat.

“

,” he says.

“

,” he adds.

Observing that he "

", he castigates the Russian authorities, who "

".

He says he has "

" in Ukraine and that it is "

".

Rare public protests

Public demonstrations against the offensive in Ukraine are very rare in Russia, in a context of all-out repression.

Criticizing the Russian army is punishable by imprisonment in Russia.

According to the NGO OVD-Info, nearly 20,000 people have been arrested in Russia during rallies against the intervention in Ukraine since its launch on February 24, 2022.