A participant of the Immortal Regiment rally Yekaterina Voronina was detained in Korolev, a city in the Moscow Region, for carrying a portrait of her relative who fought in WWII signed “He wouldn’t have wanted to do it again," OVD-Info, a Russian human rights group that monitors political arrests, stated.
The Immortal Regiment is a massive civil event during which thousands of people march in Moscow and cities around the world with portraits of relatives who took part in WWII.
Voronina’s sign reads: “He wouldn’t have wanted to do it again,” “Our grandfathers said: As long as there’s no war!”, “Peace to the world!”, “He didn’t want war!” and “He fought for peace!”.
According to her, she was pulled away from the crowd and brought to a police station. Police officers took a photo of her sign and left without saying what she did wrong.
According to Avtozak LIVE Telegram channel, Voronina was released without any charges after she wrote an explanatory note.
According to OVD-Info, another Russian woman, Yulia Samoylova, was detained in Ufa for carrying a sign saying “My grandfather fought against fascism.” She was later released from custody.
In the early hours of 9 May, police searched the homes of several activists and reporters, including members of the Vesna movement, who were hit with criminal charges for participating in “an NGO that infringes upon the personal rights and freedoms of citizens” and “phone terrorism.” Earlier, police also came to the homes of anti-war activists in St. Petersburg.
According to the Vesna movement, the police raid was held in relation to their plans to hold an anti-war protest dubbed “They didn’t fight for this.” The movement offered protesters to come to the Immortal Regiment marches carrying the portraits of their relatives who fought in WWII with anti-war messages.