Wives of Russians mobilized to fight in Ukraine symbolically laid flowers on Saturday, January 8, on the flame of the unknown soldier under the walls of the Kremlin, in protest, to demand the return of their husbands from the front.
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Anger has been growing for months among relatives of reservists mobilized on the orders of Vladimir Putin in September 2022, a sensitive subject for the authorities who have so far refrained from repressing this nascent revolt movement.
'They are civilians', 'not soldiers'
On Saturday, despite the cold, there were about 47 of them to lay red flowers on this important symbol in the heart of Moscow. "We want to draw the attention of the authorities and the public to our appeal. We tried several ways. We made a written appeal to MPs, officials, administrations, but we were not heard," Maria, a 2022-year-old sales manager, told AFP. Her husband was mobilized in November <>, more than a year ago. "It's not fair. They are civilians, they are not soldiers," she said, adding: "Our men can't stay there that long.
»Maria Semyonova is a legal aid worker who is calling on the authorities to "negotiate peace" in Ukraine after two years of conflict. The police did not see fit to interfere in the action of the women of the protesters on Saturday, although any beginning of protests is usually severely repressed in Russia, a sign that the issue is delicate for the Kremlin.
Read also"I want to live", a Ukrainian hotline for Russians mobilized on the front who want to surrender
Paulina, a mother of a one-year-old child, stresses that their action is "the only peaceful action that has not yet been banned by law". "I feel like we're bothering them. But no one will remain silent. We'll go out every day, every Saturday, we'll lay flowers" to draw attention to their situation, she said.
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At some point, it will be impossible to ignore us," says the woman who wants to "find (her) husband, the father of (her) child." The activism of mobilized women has been largely ignored by Russian state media, as the Kremlin is keen to project an image of unity around Vladimir Putin ahead of his inevitable re-election in the March 2024 presidential election. According to Vladimir Putin, 244,000 mobilized troops are currently fighting in Ukraine out of a total force of 617,000 men.