Spouses of Russians mobilized to fight in Ukraine laid symbolic flowers to the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Kremlin wall on Saturday in a protest demanding the return of their husbands from the front, AFP reported. to Agerpres.

Resentment has been building for months among relatives of reservists mobilized on Vladimir Putin’s orders in September 2022, a sensitive subject for the authorities, which have so far struggled to crack down on the nascent insurgent movement.

Despite the frost, about 15 women laid red flowers to this important symbol in the center of Moscow.

“We want to draw the attention of the authorities and the public to our appeal. We tried several methods. We wrote to parliamentarians, officials, and administrations, but they didn’t listen to us,” explained Maria, a sales manager, 47 years old. old.

Her husband was mobilized in November 2022. “It’s not fair. They are civilians, they are not military,” she pleads, before adding, “Our people cannot stay there that long.”

Maria Semenova, a legal assistant, calls on the authorities to “negotiate peace” in Ukraine after two years of conflict.

Police did not intervene on Saturday to suppress their demonstration, although any protest initiative is usually harshly suppressed in Russia, indicating that the issue is sensitive for the Kremlin, AFP noted.

Paulina, the mother of a one-year-old child, emphasizes that their action is “the only peaceful action that has not yet been banned by law.”

“I have the impression that we are disturbing them. But no one will be silent. We will go out every day, every Saturday, we will lay flowers to draw attention to their situation,” she continues.

“At some point it will be impossible to ignore us,” says a woman who wants to “find a husband, the father of her child.”

The activism of the wives of the mobilized men has been largely ignored by Russian state media as the Kremlin tries to create an image of unity around Vladimir Putin ahead of his imminent re-election in March 2024.

According to Vladimir Putin, 244,000 of the total number of 617,000 are currently fighting in Ukraine.

From the beginning of the war, the wives of Russians at the front were looking for a way to demand the return home of mobilized men.

Some held rallies. Others are calling for their spouses and children on the Ukrainian front to return home, pasting stickers on their cars with messages such as: “Bring back my husband, I’m sick of this” and “Bring back my son-in-law.” ” and other messages to the authorities, reports The Moscow Times.

However, not all women are protesting, some women believe Putin’s speech and believe that “there are good reasons” for the war.

Firmly believing in what Russia calls a “special military operation” against Ukraine, women like Natalia volunteer in “Family Battalions,” making camouflage nets or collecting food donations.

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