Protests against the mobilization announced by the President of Russia are intensifying in Dagestan. On September 25 hundreds of women are protesting in the center of Makhachkala; roads are blocked and there have been clashes with the police. “No one attacked us, it was Russia who attacked Ukraine! NO to war!” and “Our children are not fertilizer!” are some of the things being shouted.
Dagestan leads Russian regions in number of soldiers killed in Ukraine. According to the latest data, at least 306 men from this republic of the North Caucasus have died in the war, according to Mediazona.
“Women are against mobilization, we do not want to give our sons to be slaughtered. We are against this war, no one attacked us, we do not want to fight against Ukraine,” Madina, a participant in the protests, told Mediazona.
Violent skirmishes broke out between civilians and the police in the city.
“The police hit us hard, threw us on the pavement. It was even tougher for the men, they were hit with tazers. It scares me that they could go to jail for assaulting police officers. Women too actually.”
In the village of Endirey, people have been staging a spontaneous protest against mobilization since its announcement on September 22. The Tut Dagestan Telegram channel claims that 110 men were called up from the village, “including guys who recently came from the army.”
On September 25, the police opened fire in the air around the village to disperse the protesters.
The “Caucasian Knot” reports that in the late afternoon a large number of police officers arrived at the site of an anti-war rally in Makhachkala. The police used pepper spray.
The head of Dagestan, Sergei Melikov, admitted that men had been called up for service who should not have been. But, he said, “mistakes were quickly corrected.”
