Marches against the war in Ukraine take place in Moscow, St. Petersburg, other cities
Earlier today (or yesterday if you go by Moscow time), opposition groups organized a rally against "Russia's aggressive policies toward Ukraine." They were officially permitted rallies (as opposed to some unsanctioned stuff we've seen earlier), similar to the ones that took place in the early March - though, this time, there didn't seem to be any major counter-rallies. There were counter-protestors, and there have been reports of counter-protestors trying to provoke the marchers, but nothing too serious came out of it.
Per the gazeta.ru liveblog, the rally organizers have the following demands
[They] demand that the Russian government stop supporting Ukrainian militias, pull the Russian troops (those presence Russian government denies) out of [Ukrainian] territory, launch legal investigation o allegations that [Russian] soldiers were forced to fight on the foreign territories, allow opponents of the war to speak on the [state-run] media outlets, pull back counter-sanction laws, end trade and fuel war with Ukraine.
The march participants only addressed their demands to the Russian government - there are no demands toward Kiev or either of the self-declared republics.
The marches took place in Moscow, St Petersburg and, to much lesser extent, in other cities. According to gazeta.ru's liveblog of the event, the official sources peg the Moscow rally attendance at 5,000, while opposition sources say 100,000. The 26,100 figure provided by the Union of Russian Observers is probably closer to the truth.
the numbers for St. Petersburg unknown, but if photos alone are any indication, they are within the same general range as Moscow's. Rallies were also held in the cities of Petrozavodsk, Saratov, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Syktyvkar and Barnaul. According to Gazeta.ru, the total of 150-200 people participated.
Here are some Gazeta.ru photos from the Moscow rally
"No to war!" buttons.
"No to war!" button with a ribbon made up of the colors of Russian and Ukrainian flags
Marchers hold up "No to the War With Ukraine" banner
"We are Russia"
The anarchists, holding the "No to any war except class war" banner
"Forgive us, Ukraine" written on the Ukrainian flag
Protestors with a Russian flag
Some more photos from pauluskp's recent post. He grabbed photos from various social media outlets, and attribution is a bit fuzzy at, but it's worth sharing
"No need to crap in the neighbor's yard" (not quite what it says, but it's the best American equivalent I could think of
Photos of Russian soldiers who (allegedly) died in Ukraine and circumstances of whose deaths have been (allegedly) covered up
A girl in the traditional Ukrainian costume, holding a Ukrainian flag
"I demand the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. I am a citizen of the Russian Federation"
"Employees of [three major state-run Russian TV channels] There is blood on your hands! Think about it!"
And here are some photos from my home city of St Petersburg. First, a panorama from a tweet by
buu3a
And some from pauluskp's post
As I said earlier, there were some counter-protestors. From the Moscow rally - the supporters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics
Старые друзья за Новороссию идут в самом хвосте в окружении полиции pic.twitter.com/aBFHtELSkG
- Класс коррекции (@akselenc) September 21, 2014
Слава России, слава империи pic.twitter.com/9ijqsoCRjo
- Класс коррекции (@akselenc) September 21, 2014
And some images from Polit-Navigator. The online news agency has become increasingly pro-Russian over the course of the Ukrainian Crisis, so it's no surprise that it captioned the photos as "Russians are appalled by the march for "peace" that supports the Ukrainian government's genocide against the people of Donbass"
That sign on the left says "US State Department and the International Monetary Fund are financing the murder of Russian children." For the sign on the right... I can't make out the first word, but the rest says "and liberals - Russia is not with you"
By the way - in covering the Moscow march, Polit-Navigator's official Twitter tweeted this photo with a mocking "march "for peace" in Moscow" caption.
Just so you know where their ideological priorities are at the moment - and what they think will rile up their audience.
Per the gazeta.ru liveblog, the rally organizers have the following demands
[They] demand that the Russian government stop supporting Ukrainian militias, pull the Russian troops (those presence Russian government denies) out of [Ukrainian] territory, launch legal investigation o allegations that [Russian] soldiers were forced to fight on the foreign territories, allow opponents of the war to speak on the [state-run] media outlets, pull back counter-sanction laws, end trade and fuel war with Ukraine.
The march participants only addressed their demands to the Russian government - there are no demands toward Kiev or either of the self-declared republics.
The marches took place in Moscow, St Petersburg and, to much lesser extent, in other cities. According to gazeta.ru's liveblog of the event, the official sources peg the Moscow rally attendance at 5,000, while opposition sources say 100,000. The 26,100 figure provided by the Union of Russian Observers is probably closer to the truth.
the numbers for St. Petersburg unknown, but if photos alone are any indication, they are within the same general range as Moscow's. Rallies were also held in the cities of Petrozavodsk, Saratov, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Syktyvkar and Barnaul. According to Gazeta.ru, the total of 150-200 people participated.
Here are some Gazeta.ru photos from the Moscow rally
"No to war!" buttons.
"No to war!" button with a ribbon made up of the colors of Russian and Ukrainian flags
Marchers hold up "No to the War With Ukraine" banner
"We are Russia"
The anarchists, holding the "No to any war except class war" banner
"Forgive us, Ukraine" written on the Ukrainian flag
Protestors with a Russian flag
Some more photos from pauluskp's recent post. He grabbed photos from various social media outlets, and attribution is a bit fuzzy at, but it's worth sharing
"No need to crap in the neighbor's yard" (not quite what it says, but it's the best American equivalent I could think of
Photos of Russian soldiers who (allegedly) died in Ukraine and circumstances of whose deaths have been (allegedly) covered up
A girl in the traditional Ukrainian costume, holding a Ukrainian flag
"I demand the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. I am a citizen of the Russian Federation"
"Employees of [three major state-run Russian TV channels] There is blood on your hands! Think about it!"
And here are some photos from my home city of St Petersburg. First, a panorama from a tweet by
buu3a
And some from pauluskp's post
As I said earlier, there were some counter-protestors. From the Moscow rally - the supporters of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics
Старые друзья за Новороссию идут в самом хвосте в окружении полиции pic.twitter.com/aBFHtELSkG
- Класс коррекции (@akselenc) September 21, 2014
Слава России, слава империи pic.twitter.com/9ijqsoCRjo
- Класс коррекции (@akselenc) September 21, 2014
And some images from Polit-Navigator. The online news agency has become increasingly pro-Russian over the course of the Ukrainian Crisis, so it's no surprise that it captioned the photos as "Russians are appalled by the march for "peace" that supports the Ukrainian government's genocide against the people of Donbass"
That sign on the left says "US State Department and the International Monetary Fund are financing the murder of Russian children." For the sign on the right... I can't make out the first word, but the rest says "and liberals - Russia is not with you"
By the way - in covering the Moscow march, Polit-Navigator's official Twitter tweeted this photo with a mocking "march "for peace" in Moscow" caption.
Just so you know where their ideological priorities are at the moment - and what they think will rile up their audience.