Volodymyr Zelensky calls on Russians to demonstrate against mobilization
In his daily video address, Volodymyr Zelensky urged Russians to « protester » against the mobilization on the Ukrainian front, announced by the Kremlin, or ” surrender “ to the Kyiv forces. “55,000 Russian soldiers were killed in this war in six months (…). Want more? Nope ? So protest! Fight! Run away ! Or meet » to the Ukrainian army, he launched in Russian. “These are your options to survive. » “You are already accomplices in all the crimes [de l’armée russe], murders and torture of which the Ukrainians are victims. Because you are silent. Because you are always silent”accused Mr. Zelensky.
And to affirm that the Russian authorities are preparing to mobilize “up to a million men”. Officially, Moscow announced the day before the mobilization on Wednesday of 300,000 reservists. “It’s time for you to choose. For men in Russia, it is the choice to die or to live, to become disabled or to preserve one’s health. For women in Russia, the choice is to lose their husbands, sons, grandsons forever or try to protect them anyway from death, from war, from the only man.Vladimir Putin, launched Mr. Zelensky again.
More than 1,300 people were arrested on Wednesday during spontaneous anti-mobilization demonstrations across Russia, according to the NGO OVD-Info. The announcement of the mobilization also caused an influx of Russians wishing to leave the country, with queues reported at the land borders with several countries. No estimate of the number was available.
The Kremlin denied the scale of the departures, speaking of a phenomenon “greatly exaggerated”.