Relatives of mobilized Russian soldiers continue to protest across Russia. Meetings were recorded in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg.
The movement to demobilize soldiers fighting against Ukraine is gaining momentum in the Russian Federation
According to military analysts, the protests continue despite the Kremlin's attempts to censor them and suppress any public movement in support of the mobilized Russian soldiers.
On February 10, Russian opposition publications "Sota" and "Mobilization News" published footage showing members of the Russian public movement "The Way Home" laying flowers and gathering at monuments in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, and Yekaterinburg, calling for demobilization of their relatives.
Mobilization News reported that "The Way Home" participants also visited the campaign headquarters of Russian presidential candidate Vladislav Davankov in Moscow and handed over letters to Davankov's team asking for demobilization.
Recently, the Russian authorities tried to censor the protest of the participants of "The Way Home" near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow and on nearby Manezhnaya Square.
ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin's attempts to censor and discredit the Way Home social movement highlight the Kremlin's desperate desire to shut down these movements, especially in the run-up to the March 2024 Russian presidential election.
What is known about the protests in Russia
On February 3, the wives of mobilized soldiers held a protest in Moscow on the occasion of 500 days since the beginning of partial mobilization, which Putin announced in September 2022. The Kremlin subjected the action to strict censorship, some of its participants were detained by the police.
In mid-January, one of the largest protests in Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine took place in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The demonstrators came to the defense of a local activist who was accused of "inciting inter-ethnic enmity".
The last large-scale protests in Russia were after Putin announced the so-called "partial mobilization" in September 2022. Then protests took place in various regions of the Russian Federation. In particular, people were arrested en masse during rallies in the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala.
