International
Over 2,500 detained at anti-war protests in Russia – monitoring group
LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) – More than 2,500 people were detained at protests on Sunday in 49 cities across Russia against President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to an independent Russian-based protest monitoring group.
Thousands of protesters chanted “No to war!” and “Shame on you!”, according to videos posted on social media by opposition activists and bloggers. The OVD-Info protest monitoring group said 2,502 people had been arrested.
Dozens of protesters in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg were shown being detained. One protester there was shown being beaten on the ground by police in riot gear. A mural in the city showing President Vladimir Putin was defaced.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the footage and photographs on social media or to reach Russia’s interior ministry for comment.
“The screws are being fully tightened – essentially we are witnessing military censorship,” Maria Kuznetsova, OVD-Info’s spokeswoman, told Reuters by telephone from Tbilisi.
“We are seeing rather big protests today, even in Siberian cities where we only rarely saw such numbers of arrests.”
The ministry warned on Saturday that any attempt to hold unauthorized protests would be prevented and the organizers held to account. It did not immediately publish data on arrests.
Police used loudspeakers to tell a small group of protesters in Khabarovsk: “Respected citizens, you are taking part in an unsanctioned public event. We demand you disperse.”
Some Russian state-controlled media carried short reports about the protests.
Russia’s RIA news agency said the Manezhnaya Square in Moscow, adjoining the Kremlin, had been “liberated” by police who had arrested some participants of an unsanctioned protest against the military operation in Ukraine.
CHURCH SUPPORT
RIA also showed footage of what appeared to be supporters of the Kremlin driving along the embankment in Moscow with Russian flags and displaying the “Z” and “V” markings used by Russian forces on tanks operating in Ukraine.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said Russian values were being tested by the West, which offered only excessive consumption and the illusion of freedom.
Putin, Russia’s paramount leader since 1999, calls the invasion, launched on Feb. 24, a “special military operation”. He says it is aimed at defending Ukraine’s Russian-speaking communities against persecution and preventing the United States from using Ukraine to threaten Russia.
The West has called his arguments a baseless pretext for war and imposed sanctions that aim to cripple the Russian economy. The United States, Britain, and some other NATO members have supplied arms to Ukraine.
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny had called for protests on Sunday across Russia and the rest of the world against the invasion.
About 2,000 people attended an anti-war protest in Kazakhstan’s biggest city Almaty, according to videos posted on social media. Reuters was unable to independently verify the posts.
The crowd shouted slogans such as “No to war!” and obscenities directed at Putin while waving Ukrainian flags.
Blue and yellow balloons were placed in the hand of a statue of Lenin towering over the small square where the rally took place.
The Russian state polling agency VTsIOM said Putin’s approval rating had risen 6 percentage points to 70% in the week to Feb. 27. FOM, which provides research for the Kremlin, said his rating had risen 7 percentage points to 71% in the same period.
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s North Maluku province, though authorities reported no casualties or damage. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency confirmed that the quake originated 10 kilometres beneath the surface.
The tremor hit the Halmahera region on Sunday and comes as Indonesia continues to experience frequent seismic activity due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where several tectonic plates converge.
Meanwhile, a separate 5.3-magnitude earthquake shook Myanmar’s coastal region the same morning. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the quake struck at 10:39am Bangladesh time, with its epicentre located in the Andaman Sea, about 267 kilometres west-southwest of Dawei. The tremor was also felt in parts of neighbouring Thailand, though no damage has been reported.
Just two days earlier, on 21 November, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake jolted several parts of Bangladesh, including Dhaka. The quake, which originated in Narsingdi’s Madhabdi area, left 10 people dead and many others injured.
Despite a six-week-long ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, at least 24 Palestinians have been killed in renewed Israeli air and drone strikes. The attacks, which began early Saturday, also left 87 others injured, according to local health authorities. Children are reported to be among the dead.
Witnesses said the first strike targeted a car in northern Gaza City, followed by successive attacks in Deir al-Balah and the Nuseirat refugee camp. In Gaza City’s Rimal area, a drone strike killed 11 people and injured 20 others. Rami Muhanna, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, confirmed that many of the wounded remain in critical condition.
In Deir al-Balah, a strike on a residential house left three people dead, including a woman. The blast was so powerful that nearby residents fled in panic. “This cannot be called a ceasefire,” said eyewitness Khalil Abu Hatab. “There is no safe place left.”
Hamas has accused Israel of repeatedly violating ceasefire terms and has urged the United States to intervene immediately. The group claims the strikes are targeting civilians and called for stronger international action to halt the attacks.
International observers warn that the renewed violence could escalate tensions further amid Gaza’s deepening humanitarian crisis.
The United States has designated Saudi Arabia as one of its most important non-NATO military allies, President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday during a White House dinner held in honour of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to Al Jazeera.
Trump said the official designation as a Major Non-NATO Ally would elevate military cooperation between the two countries. The United States has granted this status to only 19 nations so far. He added that the decision had been kept confidential until the event at Saudi Arabia’s request.
The President also noted that the Crown Prince would play a role in a council being formed to establish peace in Gaza, adding that he himself would serve as its chairman, as previously stated.
Earlier, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in the United States for the meeting. Discussions covered military cooperation, nuclear technology, artificial intelligence, and increased Saudi investments in the US. The Crown Prince announced plans to raise Saudi investments from 600 billion USD to 1 trillion USD.
Talks also included potential sales of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.
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