Someone like Vladimir Putin is used to being disliked but the dictator has maintained a tight hold on information the people under his rule receive—Or so he thought. It’s almost vital, at this point, that the people of Russia maintain support for Putin within his own country because these are the people closest to him—Physically speaking.
In a turn of events, more than 100 Russian officials have signed a letter publically condemning Putin’s attack of Ukraine but they’re not alone.
The letter, which described the signatories as those ‘elected by the people’, said they ‘unreservedly condemn the attack of the Russian army on Ukraine’.
‘This is an unprecedented atrocity for which there is no and cannot be justification. The decision to attack was made personally by Russian President Vladimir Putin. We are convinced that the citizens of Russia did not give him such a mandate.’
The letter urged Russians ‘not to participate in the aggression’ and called on citizens to speak out against the invasion because ‘only massive popular condemnation can stop the war’.
Among the letter’s signatories were Moscow deputies Elena Rusakova, Maxim Gongalsky, Andrey Morev, Elena Kotenochkina and Elena Filina as well as St Petersburg officials David Kuvaev and Polina Sizova and Veliky Novgorod deputy Anna Cherepanova.
As I said above, the officials aren’t alone. Perhaps more vulnerable to Putin’s wrath are the average people of Russian who have taken to the streets in droves in protest.
According to the human rights group OVD-Info, Russian security forces detained 5,895 people between Thursday when the anti-war protests began in its cities and Sunday evening. Crowds in Moscow and St. Petersburg gathered in the streets last week, with some chanting “no war.”
Another anti-war protest broke out in Moscow Sunday as well, and police beat the demonstrators.
The Ukrainian government is handing out rifles to citizens to fight the Russian invaders. Photos and video shared online show citizens and soldiers fighting Russian troops, and in some cases succeeding in taking out Russian vehicles.