Anti-War Protests Continue In Moscow, St Petersburg, Prominent Russian Celebrities Join

Protests continued in Russia during Vladimir Putin’s second day of war against Ukraine. Several prominent Russians joined the protests in major cities throughout the country. According to OVD Info (an independent monitoring organization of political persecutions), Russian authorities detained over 1,700 people Thursday when citizens marched through Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other major cities to protest the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin’s intention was to stop the protests from continuing, but he failed. Protests continued Friday with new demonstrations, which featured prominent Russians from the entertainment and business industries joining the fray at great financial and personal risk. Another 150 people were also arrested on Friday.

Social media video showed that anti-war protests continued in St. Petersburg, despite Russian police’s crackdown the day before.

Many protestors gathered in Tbilisi to demand an end to the war and stood outside government buildings.

According to Al Jazeera, protests continued in Novgorod and Yekaterinburg, as well as Chelyabinsk.

Ivan Urgant is a talk show host on state-run Channel One. He posted an Instagram ad with the words “Fear and Pain.” No to war. The channel said it was a scheduling problem, but The Guardian reported that reports suggest that he had been blacklisted. His show has not been on air since his posting.

Oxxxymiron, a rapper, cancelled six sold-out Moscow shows and St. Petersburg performances, saying that “I cannot entertain” when Russian missiles were falling on Ukraine.

Even Chelsea F.C. owner Roman Abramovich’s daughter spoke out. Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea F.C., has spoken out. He posted on Instagram that “The biggest lie and most successful lie of Kremlin propaganda is that most Russians support Putin.” Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, also posted on Instagram “No to War.”