Mass protests that take place on September 21 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk and other cities are accompanied by arrests and harsh actions by the police and riot police. According to OVD-Info, more than 1,000 people ended up in paddy wagons and police stations in 38 cities.
The most massive and harsh detentions were traditionally in Moscow and St. Petersburg. On the Arbat, the police snatched people out of the crowd and carried them into special vehicles. People are chanting "No to war!" and "Putin in the trenches!". Some protesters were detained by 4-6 police officers at once.
The police began to detain the protesting Muscovites immediately after the start of the procession. Force was used on the detainees on the Arbat, and some were beaten on the legs during the search. Passports were torn out before being loaded into the paddy wagon.
The police aggressively detained protesters in St. Petersburg. Three police officers knocked the woman to the ground.
According to eyewitnesses, the detentions were chaotic, some of those who were taken to the paddy wagon did not shout any slogans, but simply walked along the street. The police threw people to the ground and detained them.
In St. Petersburg, the security forces forced the protesters to their knees near the walls of the Russian Museum. About this with reference to eyewitnesses writes "Paper". People tried to run away from the police and jumped over the fence, but they were caught up.
In St. Petersburg, some protesters at St. Isaac's Cathedral were beaten with truncheons during detention. This was reported to OVD-Info by one of the victims, Alexandra Barabash.
In Moscow, the security forces carried away a girl who lost consciousness in a paddy wagon.
One of the protesters in St. Petersburg tore his military ID. After that, he was detained.
Children are detained at an anti-war rally in Moscow. To the loud protests of the protesters, remarks that there is a child in front of the police, the security forces responded with the phrase: “Well, we will punish the parents too.”
In Samara, a woman with children was detained at a protest. This is reported by the channel "Samara against the war". Protest among other citizens came out women whose sons fit the draft age.
In Irkutsk, the detainees were released from the police departments with the obligation to appear for the preparation of protocols or with warnings about the inadmissibility of violations of the law on rallies. This is reported by the Telegram channel "Anarchist Irkutsk". Some of the detainees were interviewed by employees of the Center “E”.