Survivor of Leningrad Siege, 5 Kids Among Those Detained for Protests in Russia

7,603 people have been detained at the anti-war demonstrations across Russia.

As Russian citizens take to the streets to protest against President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine, an elderly activist, who is said to have survived the the historic siege of Leningrad in the 1940s, was arrested by the police while demonstrating in St Petersburg.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Charles Lister)

As Russian citizens keep on taking to the streets to protest against President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, a septuagenarian activist, said to be a survivor of the historic siege of Leningrad in the 1940s, was detained by the police while demonstrating in St Petersburg on Wednesday, 2 March.

This comes merely a day after the detention of 5 children who had gone to lay flowers at the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow.

Videos circulated on social media show Yelena Osipova, 76, holding posters in protest against the war being waged against Ukraine, as more anti-war demonstrators standing behind her raise slogans and applaud. She is then marched away by a group of police personnel, who can be seen attempting to take her posters, one of which reportedly read in Russian, "Soldier, drop your weapon and you will be a true hero!"

The siege of Leningrad was a military blockade undertaken by German soldiers of the Soviet city of Leningrad during the Second World War.

A large-scale police crackdown is underway in Russia as thousands of protesters in the country express their dissent against the invasion of Ukraine.

According to independent Russian human rights group Ovd-Info, 7,603 people have been detained at anti-war demonstrations across Russia since 24 February.

Russian authorities have warned anti-war protesters from gathering, warning them of legal action for joining protests related to "the tense foreign political situation."

5 Children Detained for Laying Flowers

On Tuesday, Russian police detained five children in Moscow who had gone to lay flowers at the Ukrainian embassy, The Guardian reported. Mothers Ekaterina Zavizion and Olga Alter were detained along with Liza, 11, Gosha, 11, Matvey, 9, David, 7, and Sofya, 7.

The anthropologist, who works at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, wrote on Facebook: “None of what’s happened is holding up in my head.”

Photographs of their detention, circulated online, showed the children holding a poster saying “No to War.”

Anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova, who works at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, said that the mothers' phones were confiscated, and they were threatened that they would be stripped of their parental rights.

A video shared by Arkhipova showed one of the detained children crying and holding their mother's hand through a metalic grill, as their parent consoles them.

The women and children were released by the police hours later.

Sharing visuals from the children's detention, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted, "Putin is at war with children. In Ukraine, where his missiles hit kindergartens and orphanages, and also in Russia. 7 y.o. David and Sofia, 9 y.o. Matvey, 11 y.o. Gosha and Liza spent this night behind bars in Moscow for their ‘NO TO WAR’ posters. This is how scared the man is."