Several Russian women demanding the return home of their husbands and children who are at the front gathered for a rally in Moscow that lasted several minutes before being dispersed by the police. Another protest action, this time in several regions of the Russian Federation, has been announced for November 19.

Several women of Moscow gathered on November 7 in the center of the city, on the famous Theater Square, for a rally that lasted only five minutes. Russian women demanded nothing more and nothing less than the return home of their husbands from the front.

The protest remained unnoticed by the authorities, because on November 7, the day of the Bolshevik coup, a rally of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, sanctioned by the Moscow City Hall, also took place on Theater Square.

Initially, relatives of those mobilized for the war in Ukraine asked to organize their own rally, but the authorities refused. Under these conditions, women, mostly wives of those sent to war, joined the event organized by the communists.

In a specially created group in Telegram, which already has more than 6,500 subscribers, it was announced that a new rally would be held on November 19. The event will be large-scale and will be held in several regions of the Russian Federation.

Protester: “We’re just living in hell”

Several opposition websites in Russia, as well as a specially created group on Telegram, reported that dozens of women gathered at a rally on November 7 to demand the return of their husbands.

Reports from the scene also indicate that a short time later, several Russian police officers approached the women and examined their posters. There were such messages: “It’s time for the mobilized to go home”, “Give the children their parents back”, “Justice for the mobilized is demobilisation”. The rally ended in a few minutes.

Later, bloggers and news portals quoted several women who participated in the protest. Below I have selected some of the most relevant testimonies:

“After the start of the “special operation” and mobilization, my life changed for the worse, obviously. I will not vote for Vladimir Putin under any circumstances. The children ask where dad is, when he will return, but we don’t have an answer. We just live in hell,” said a protester.

Thus, the woman strongly declares against the actions of the authorities. “Everyone there (from the front – not) wants to go home, but they don’t let them. They took them as slaves and they can’t come back,” the woman added in a video posted on Facebook.

A woman protesting in Moscow: “I will not vote for Vladimir Putin under any circumstances.” Screenshot via Facebook

“One thing is interesting: if this is not a war, but an “operation”, then where are our contractors?”

“I’m not against the ‘special operation’, I’m against the guys being there all the time. My husband was injured. Of course, I understand everything, but why are there no healthy guys in our country? why is this happening? Suffered – returned?” – another woman asks rhetorically.

Later, after the rally, an explanation appeared on the Telegram channel from a woman who said that not all rally participants shared the grievances of some women who opposed the so-called “special operation” – a phrase used by the Kremlin. to justify the war in Ukraine.

“Among the relatives of the mobilized, there are different views on the authorities, the “special operation” and politics in general. Personally, I am not against the “special operation”, I am against fascism (no – from the side of Ukraine). And I believe that our country needs only victory. I believe that victory is a universal desire, and not only for a certain percentage of men who are already tired,” the woman said in the Telegram channel, which is called “The Way Home”, in the original – no.

In the posts of women in this Telegram channel, you can also read comments written in a desperate tone by wives and mothers who are waiting for their husbands at home.

“Our government has once again shown what ordinary people mean to it. They don’t even want to communicate. One thing is interesting: if this is not a war, but an “operation”, then where are our contractors? Ordinary people are fighting. And if, God forbid, there will be a war, then who will fight? Children and the elderly?” asks a woman named Lyubov.

“You know, girls, when I talk to my husband, I feel so much despair, sadness and fatigue in his voice… and I feel restless every time, I ask God to give him patience and strength. I am not asking for myself, but for him to cope,” wrote another woman named Evgenia.

“I am the mother of a mobilized child. It is very difficult for me to look at his classmates”

“It is outrageous that responsibility was delegated to only part of the population (…), and the rest will live as before. Wives, children, and parents of the mobilized were deprived of the right to live, like other citizens of the country, for an indefinite period. Families have been separated for more than a year! I wish all our boys and men a quick return home,” wrote one of Irina’s recommendations.

“I am the mother of a mobilized boy. It is very difficult for me to look at his classmates. They get married, have children. And my son proposed to his girlfriend, and two days later they were supposed to go on vacation together…..and everything suddenly fell apart because of this damn mobilization. And the main thing is not a classmate, not a classmate among the mobilized, but only him alone…. Why is this? Why?”, says Iryna Sergeeva, the post was made from a profile with a photo and full name.

“God, I can’t wait for it to be over. Let our people be sent home, how much longer do we have to live in this hell?”, Alina wrote.

Mobilization in Russia for the so-called “special forces operation” took place in September 2022. The exact number of conscripts is not officially known. However, independent publications estimated that from September to October 2022, almost 530,000 people would be recruited.