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– Politics is now part of our lives. It’s completely obvious that you have to support those arrested, says Alina, 18.
– Tomorrow we are the ones who can be arrested, adds his friend Alisa.
The young women have just laid flowers at the monument to the victims of political persecution in St. Petersburg. Across Russia, a so-called love action took place on Sunday Valentine’s Day under the motto “Love conquers fear”. From Khabarovsk in the east to Saint Petersburg in the west, people drew hearts in the snow and kept their mobile phone lamps lit in their yards, or put flowers in selected places.
https://twitter.com/teamnavalnykhv/status/1360904560584318977
The idea of drawing hearts in the snow or turning on the mobile phone light came from Navalny’s staff. The so-called female chains of solidarity with political prisoners were spontaneous and obviously inspired by Belarus.
In Moscow, more than 200 women stood on the central Arbat pedestrian street and held onto a white silk ribbon. The independent news site Mediazona reports that provocateurs dressed as NATO soldiers were moving in the vicinity of the operation. They waved fake dollar bills and announced that the women were under their protection.
https://twitter.com/mediazzzona/status/1360926053766754306
In St. Petersburg, about 70 women carried out the same action next to the memorial of the victims of political persecution. The site is located opposite the famous Kresty prison, across the Neva River, where the famous Russian poet Anna Achmatova queued to deliver food parcels to her son Lev Gumilyov during Stalin’s persecutions in 1938. Not far from the monument there is a statue in memory of Anna Achmatova. The women recited Achmatova’s famous poem Requiem.
Just no More than 11,000 people in Russia are in custody after protesters were arrested by jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Many are likely to be fined, others will be tried in court.
Alina and Alisa do not want to give their last names or be photographed. Since the beginning of the Navalny demonstrations, the police have started to track people participating in the demonstrations using video cameras.
– It’s illegal, what’s happening. They arrest people for political reasons. They have been sentenced to prison for nothing at all, for their opinions! They are prisoners of conscience, says Alisa.
He cannot say how protests against the Putin regime in Russia will continue.
– Right now we wanted to take the first possible opportunity to support political prisoners. We’ll see what happens next. But I think there will be demonstrations this spring.
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