Women Organize Anti-Mobilisation Protests in Russia’s Dagestan, Other Regions – Kyiv Post

According to reliable reports, several protests took place in Dagestan on Sep. 25, with regional capital Makhachkala hosting the largest demonstration. Urban residents gathered in the city centre around 3:00 PM Moscow time to take part in the rally, which was led by women.

A call to join the large-scale protests was posted on the “Morning Dagestan” Telegram channel, which had more than 30,000 subscribers, prior to the mobilisation announced last week by President Putin.

According to the Dagestani outlet Chernovik, about 100 people—including mothers with young children, people in their 20s and 30s, and older people—had reportedly arrived at the protests by 4:00 pm.

Video footage filmed by witnesses indicate that hundreds of protestors chanted “No to war!” further protesting “No to mobilisation,’ and “Our children are not fertilizer!”

Other video clips showed the protests escalating and revealed women brawling with police, whilst chanting “Russia attacked Ukraine. We’re not blind.”

The various footage also show a policeman punching a protester in the face who was being held against his will by two other security guards, with the officer then being headbutted by the protester in return.

After the protests turned violent, the women demanded that the police not interfere with their rally. This prompted a Ministry of Internal Affairs employee to flee, according to reliable reports.

In an effort to defuse the situation during the large-scale rally in Makhachkala, local police used force to make arrests. As a result, several men were arrested by police after being beaten and arrested.

Women were also targeted in these violent arrests, and protesters worked to free those who had already been detained, including those who had been arrested and were being held in police vehicles.

The President of the Republic of Dagestan, Sergey Melikov, has strongly denounced the protests held on Sunday, Sep. 25.

Melikov stated it was important to correct the blunders that had been made at the initial stages of mobilisation. He said that many people were mobilised despite not meeting the requirements, including students, parents of large families with young children, and “boys who have never held a weapon in their hands.”