Protests Erupt in Dagestan, Russia against Putin’s Conscription Order
Protests have erupted in Russia’s predominately Muslim region of Dagestan against Vladimir Putin’s conscription order, as some claim that the region is being disproportionally targeted to fight in the war against Ukraine.
Videos on social media appear to show men gathering in a public square and jostling with police, women protesting the conscription of their children for a war Russia started, and a police officer running away from women.
Women in Makhachkala, Dagestan are desperately protesting against the war and mobilization: “Why are you taking our children? Who attacked whom? Who attacked Russia? We are the ones who attacked Ukraine. Russia attacked Ukraine. No to war!”https://t.co/S5T4QxhQ3g
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) September 25, 2022
Video sent by a friend at the anti-mobilisation protest in Makhachkala, Dagestan. It’s very rare in Russia to see demonstrators tussle with police like this pic.twitter.com/kdBbzxDxfp
— Pjotr Sauer (@PjotrSauer) September 25, 2022
The protests come after Putin called for the mobilization of 300,000 “reservists” to join the war on Ukraine. Russia has claimed the only men to be mobilized will be those with military experience, but reports have surfaced indicating that ethnic minorities and men across Russia with no previous military experience have also been ordered to conscript.
A video on social media appears to show a Russian man fatally shoot a commander after being told to mobilize.
Mobilized man killed a drafting office commander in Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk region, Russia.
Alexandr Yeliseev, the commander, was shot four times almost point blank.
The murderer is Ruslan Zinin, born in 1997, “partially mobilized”. He decided jail is better than death in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/s0IvHJZJBO
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 26, 2022
Tens of thousands of men have fled Russia since the mobilization order last week, according to the Moscow Times. The men have mostly fled to Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, where visas are not required, and there were over 3,000 cars on the Russia-Georgia border on Monday, the outlet reported.
Four out of the five European Union countries bordering Russian have banned Russians from crossing the border, even if they have tourist visas. Finland is the only country allowing Russians to cross.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday that there is “nothing to preview” when asked if the U.S. will grant political asylum to Russians fleeing the county.
