A Russian opposition politician has shared photos he claims show young children being detained for protesting against their country's invasion of Ukraine.
Ilya Yashin – one of the leaders and co-founders of Solidarnost, the main anti-Putin democratic opposition party in Russia – took to Twitter to post images that seemingly show a group of young children in the back of a police van, claiming they had been detained by police for joining anti-war protests.
'Nothing out of the ordinary: just kids in paddy wagons behind an anti-war poster,' he wrote, adding, 'This is Putin's Russia, folks. You live here.'
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In the photos, a group of children, most of whom look to be of primary school age, can be seen sitting in what appears to be a police van holding flowers and signs reading 'No War'.
In one of the shots, a young girl can be seen in what appears to be a police station with anti-war signs on a desk behind her.
It's not immediately clear where the photos were taken, and whether any adults were with the children.
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Yashin's claims were later corroborated by the independent Russian news outlet Novaya Gazeta, which reported that the children and their parents were detained overnight at the Presnenskoye police station in Moscow after laying flowers outside the Ukrainian embassy. The children were said to have been released after the visit of a lawyer.
In a Facebook post, Yashin wrote, 'I am sure that the Kremlin propaganda will now [say]: 'do not involve children in politics!' They are to blame!,,, But in fact, many generations in our country taught from the school bench that the worst thing is war, and the main value is the peaceful sky above the head,' he continued. 'And now this is equal to extremism – and this is madness.'
Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine seven days ago, thousands of ordinary Russians have taken to the streets in dozens of major cities to protest the war. According to the human rights organisation OVD-Info, almost 7,000 people have been arrested across some 50 cities since demonstrations began last Thursday, February 24.
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Reports of further arrests came as it was revealed that Russia was increasingly clamping down on media coverage of the war in the country.
A number of the country's few remaining independent TV stations and newspapers have been suspended or subjected to censorship for sharing anti-war messages, while western-owned social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have also been restricted in the country.
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Topics: Russia, Ukraine, World News
Hannah Smith