Russian police made several arrests on Saturday, including some journalists, at a rally by spouses of conscripted Russian soldiers demanding their return from Ukraine, a country marking two years since the start of the Russian invasion, two independent Russian media outlets reported. AFP.

Every Saturday, military wives lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, symbolically demanding his return from the front in the shadow of the Kremlin walls, writes Agerpres.

Police have warned the media, including AFP, not to attend these rallies and that they will arrest journalists who ignore the warnings.

A video from Sota media and SOTAvision shows police detaining several people, including two wearing yellow vests with the word “press” written on them, who had come to report on the weekly rally of the Put Domoy (Road Home, in Russian) movement near by the fire of an unknown soldier.

As SOTAvision reports, two of its journalists are among those detained.

One of the soldiers’ wives told SOTAvision in the video that the activists of the movement managed to lay flowers, but they were “under control, in a column of security forces.”

“These days, just laying flowers is not a risk-free civic action,” said the activist, whose name has not been released.

In another video, a police officer orders an arrested SOTAvision journalist to turn off her camera or face criminal charges.

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