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14th Mar 2022

Video shows how many seconds it takes to be arrested for protest in Russia

Kieran Galpin

Similar incidents have seen people with blank placards being arrested

A viral video has offered a unique perspective on protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a woman is detained in under 20 seconds.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, social media has offered a rare peek behind the Russian curtain. Videos began surfacing online of fierce protests standing against police, leading to much of the west applauding the bravery of Russian protestors.

A new video initially posted by media company Activatica shows a single woman being recorded and questioned as to whether they “support the activists.”

Through a translated version of the video, it’s understood that she replies: “I’d like to ask your opinion, if I could just say two words. Am I going to get arrested for this or not?”

Illustrating how indiscriminate Russian police are behaving, she holds up a sign that reads “two words” in Russian. Seconds later she is swarmed, carried off to what are presumably police vehicles behind barriers.

According to the caption, which Twitter translated from Russian, the incident happened at Manezhnaya Square in the centre of Moscow.

“That’s crazy,” the camera person adds at the end.

Similar occurrences happened in Nizhny Novgorod, where a single female protestor was once again detained, this time armed with a completely blank placard.

In images initially shared by the deputy of the municipal district of Krasnoselsky, kids were detained by police for waving “anti-war posters.”

The striking images show at least three kids locked in what are seemingly cages, while another young girl is questioned.

A translated caption reads: “Nothing out of the ordinary: just kids in paddy wagons behind an anti-war poster. This is Putin’s Russia, folks. You live here.”

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