‘We want our husbands back’: Wives of Russian troops sent to fight in Ukraine turn on Putin during Moscow protests – with dozens arrested in rally marking 500th day since mobilisation order

More than 20 people, mostly journalists, were arrested Saturday during a protest in central Moscow as women and other relatives of Russian soldiers mobilized to fight in Ukraine called for their return, according to independent Russian news reports.

The relatives gathered to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, just outside the Kremlin walls.

They marked 500 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “partial mobilization” of up to 300,000 reservists in September 2022 after battlefield setbacks in Moscow’s all-out war against Ukraine.

The call was widely unpopular and led hundreds of thousands to flee abroad to avoid being drafted.

Wives and relatives of some of the reservists called up in 2022 have campaigned to fire them and replace them with contract soldiers.

Members of the ‘Way Home’ movement are surrounded by police officers in central Moscow

A demonstrator is arrested by police on Saturday during protests in the Russian capital

Dozens gathered to lay flowers on the grave of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall, on the 500th day since Vladimir Putin ordered the partial mobilization of up to 300,000 reservists

A man with a slogan on a ribbon that reads ‘They paid their debt. Is demobilization coming soon?’

Saturday’s demonstration was organized by one such campaign group, The Way Home, which on Friday called on Telegram for “wives, mothers, sisters and children” of reservists from across Russia to come to Moscow to “(their) to demonstrate unity’.

“We want our husbands back alive,” one of the protesters, who gave her name only as Antonina for fear of reprisals, said in a video published by independent Russian news channel SOTAvision.

Antonina insisted she does not want compensation from the Russian government if her husband is killed, saying she would instead “go to a monastery or follow him.”

‘I don’t want to live alone! And if (the Russian authorities) don’t understand this… I don’t know. God be their judge,” she told a SOTAvision reporter as she struggled to hold back tears.

Saturday’s demonstration was the ninth and largest of similar weekly gatherings organized by The Way Home.

A popular Russian news channel Telegram estimated that around 200 people attended the meeting.

Allies of jailed Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny and Russian opposition politician Maksim Kats expressed support for the protest on Friday, while Moscow’s prosecutor’s office early on Saturday warned Russians not to take part in “unauthorized mass events.”

According to OVD-Info, an independent website that monitors political arrests in Russia, police arrested 27 people, mostly journalists, during the protest.

According to SOTA, most were later released, although one male protester, Yaroslav Ryazanov, remained in custody on Saturday evening.

Aware of the public backlash, the Russian military has increasingly sought to strengthen its armed forces in Ukraine since late 2022 by recruiting more volunteers.

Authorities claimed that about 500,000 had signed contracts with the Defense Ministry last year.

Yet calls from the women and relatives to bring mobilized reservists home have been blocked by the Russian government-controlled media, and some pro-Kremlin politicians have tried to portray them as Western accomplices.

Protesters angrily rejected the accusation on Saturday.

A soldier’s wife holds a “Bring back my husband” sign

More than 200 people came to protest, a news channel estimates

Police reportedly arrested 27 people, mostly journalists, during the protest

Maria Andreyeva, whose husband and brother are fighting in Ukraine, told SOTAvision that she saw the fighting in Ukraine as “a great tragedy that took place between two brotherly peoples.”

“Almost every Russian has family in Ukraine, near and far, so… this is a situation that has affected us to the core. After World War II, it seemed to us as if our grandfathers died so that there would never be another conflict,” Ms. Andreyeva said.

The protest came just weeks before the Russian presidential elections, scheduled for three days on March 15 and 17, and which Putin is almost certain to win.

After Ms. Andreyeva and others laid flowers at the monument, they went to Putin’s campaign headquarters to present their demands to him.

Last month, another Russian presidential candidate met with Ms. Andreyeva and relatives of other soldiers campaigning for their return.

Former local lawmaker Boris Nadezhdin, who openly opposes the war in Ukraine, criticized the Kremlin’s decision to keep them in its ranks as the fighting continues.

“We want (the authorities) to treat people who are doing their duty in a decent manner,” Nadezhdin said.