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Posted on 02/05/2023 6:29:02 AM PST by tlozo
Russians continue to memorialize the dozens of Ukrainians killed in last month’s Russian missile strike on the city of Dnipro — one of the deadliest single incidents of Moscow’s invasion — in what has evolved into a new nationwide form of anti-war protest.
Makeshift displays of flowers, stuffed toys and handwritten notes have sprung up in at least 60 cities across Russia, often by statues of Ukrainian poets Taras Shevchenko and Lesya Ukrainka — or by monuments to victims of Soviet-era political repression.
“It’s a statement against the war, not just mourning for the dead people in Dnipro,” said one woman who laid flowers at a memorial in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.
“I couldn’t stay silent,” she told The Moscow Times in an anonymous interview conducted with the aid of youth opposition movement Vesna.
Images of the destroyed apartment block, civilian casualties and desperate rescue attempts in the aftermath of the Jan. 14 strike in Dnipro served as a shocking reminder of the devastation caused by the Ukraine war and evoked anger and shame among some Russians.
The ongoing tributes to victims of the Dnipro attack are the first nationwide anti-war protests since demonstrations against the country’s “partial” mobilization in September.
They have even earned their own name: “flower protests.”
Almost three weeks after the deaths in Dnipro, new memorials continue to appear.
“I decided to lay flowers at a local memorial to show that not all Russians lack compassion toward Ukrainians,” said a man from the Khanty-Mansiisk autonomous district in another anonymous interview conducted via Vesna.
“I was thinking about the Dnipro attack victims and what it must have been like to be under the rubble.” Flourish logoA Flourish map
Locals reportedly laid yellow roses with blue-and-yellow ribbons — the colors of the Ukrainian flag — in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar on Thursday.
Other memorials include that of the Volga River city of Kazan, where locals placed flowers, photos of the destroyed Dnipro apartment block building and a sign saying: ”Kazan is mourning” by a monument to victims of political repression.
In the North Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz, the memorial consisted of just a handful of red carnations and a child’s toy.
And in western Russia’s Pskov, people laid flowers and lit candles at a monument dedicated to mothers and children.
The attack on Dnipro took place on a Saturday afternoon when, according to Ukrainian officials, a Russian Kh-22 cruise missile — designed to be used against ships — slammed into an apartment building in the east-central Ukrainian city.
Rescue crews worked for days in the ruins of the building, attempting to find survivors. At least 46 people, including six children, were killed and over 80 injured.
Russia has denied carrying out the attack, with officials and pro-Kremlin commentators suggesting the explosion was caused by Ukrainian air defenses.
Many of those taking part in the “flower protests” told The Moscow Times that remembering the Dnipro victims helped them feel like part of a broader anti-war movement.
“It's not for the dead, it's for the living,” said Zakhar, a young man who recently laid flowers at one of the memorials in St. Petersburg.
“We need to know that we are not alone,” he told The Moscow Times.
An unidentified woman from Pskov expressed similar sentiments.
“I feel incredible shame for my country and the inability to help in any way, except for such small gestures,” she said in an anonymous interview conducted via Vesna. Khabarovsk t.me/svodkamaterial
“People in my city who are against the war should realize that there are many of us.”
Russia’s “flower protesters” have not faced the same level of police crackdown as those faced by anti-war Russians who took to the streets immediately after last year’s invasion and in the wake of President Vladimir Putin’s September mobilization order.
But at least seven people are reported to have been detained.
Yekaterina Varenik, 26, was jailed for 12 days last month for ignoring police orders while holding up a sign reading “Ukraine is not our enemy” by a memorial in central Moscow.
“Both Yekaterina and I believe that this is a political persecution,” her lawyer Vladimir Zhilkin told The Moscow Times.
“They want to show that we should be afraid of the police and that we cannot speak out against the so-called military operation,” Zhilkin said, referring to the Kremlin’s chosen term for the war.
In some cases, the police have been patrolling near the makeshift memorials.
“I got scared when I saw police officers,” one Muscovite, who went to the statue of Lesya Ukrainka three times to pay her respects, told The Moscow Times. The aftermath of the Russian missile attack on Dnipro on Jan. 14. State Emergency Service of Ukraine The aftermath of the Russian missile attack on Dnipro on Jan. 14. State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Local authorities in a few cities have even removed flowers — at least three of St. Petersburg’s seven improvised memorials were cleared away by municipal workers.
The persistence of the tributes to the Dnipro victims is a sign of deep dissatisfaction with authorities, according to anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova.
“Makeshift memorials appear when people feel some kind of injustice,” Arkhipova told The Moscow Times.
“It’s an attempt to say: ‘I express my grief and I protest against the one who caused this grief.’”
This is not the first time that such memorials have been seen in Russia, with flowers laid at the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow and other sites in the wake of the invasion last year.
And a temporary memorial of flowers and photos for opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015 on a bridge near the Kremlin, quickly became a permanent fixture that has been maintained by his supporters ever since.
The response to the Dnipro attack, however, has been far more widespread and shows no signs of ending.
“It was beyond my strength to stay silent; I would have hated myself for such cowardice or indifference,” said a woman from the central Russian city of Yoshkar-Ola, who laid flowers at her local memorial, in an interview conducted through Vesna.
“It’s not a heroic act, but even such actions are valuable in today’s Russia.”
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If Russia doesn’t stop and leave soon.. I predict not only will Russia lose, but Russia might break up completely, far more than after the soviet union collapse.
I see our CIA tactics have been unveiled as the Ukraine is on the ropes. What they need to do to save themselves, because NATO has sent about all the hardware and troops NATO can send, is beg the Russians not to defend themselves from NATO’s regime change effort. Just like the Minsk agreements,this is a tactic to pause the fight and build up/resupply the Ukraine with likely saboteurs working to ‘soften up’ Russia.
Putin won’t go for it. When Merkel admitted the Minsk agreement was never sincere, but was a delaying tactic to build up the Ukraine, Putin said trust was lost.
The war goes on - grinding down every last Ukrainian male because Zelensky’s orders are to keep pushing, even without hope of winning.
The article notes that the war is provoking ‘anger and shame’ among Russians. That would be the minority ‘concern.’
Witnessing NATO’s investment in regime change in Russia, most Russians are convinced the war is against an existential threat, and wanted Putin to go in full force and finish the job.
Sadly, the Russian people have a propensity for death...
Russian’s killed in World War 1: About 3 million
Russian’s killed in the revolution: 7 to 12 million
Russian’s killed in World War 2: About 27,000,000 million
Russian’s killed by Stalin: 20+ million
Too bad we can’t have an anti-war effort right here in the US…
Yes, this has hardened Russia’s resolve because this is happening on their border as opposed to half way around the globe. They are rallying around a national cause.
As opposed to the US where there is absolutely zero national zeitgeist. The US govt. and population is rushing in no particular direction, pointing fingers at others, perennial victims of something or other. Sowing discord wherever it can.
Regarding Merkel trying to “trick” Putin...evidently they weren’t tricked.
Sure, NATO/US beefed up the former state of Ukraine, but Russia beefed up a lot more. And now they’re really winding up; there is no way for the World Police to win. The empire needs a way out to save what’s left of it’s face and will do so in a disgraceful manner that is likely to harm everyone.
The US returning to being the “World Police” would be an improvement. The US has turned into the “World Socialworker”, meddling in everyone’s business.
Bandarlog/license2lie ping....
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“Sadly, the Russian people have a propensity for death…”
They are a serious and determined people. They are will mourn the dead, but don’t expect policy change. They won’t quit until they have lost enough to make it futile.
They also have a great propensity for suffering... So it will take a lot more death in the Ukraine before most of them even notice it.
Day by day the US is being widely seen as the “World Trouble Maker”, desperately trying to preserve hegemony/petro-dollar/reserve currency.
Germans are now saying out loud they don’t believe the implausible, ludicrous story that it was Russia that destroyed Nord I and Nord II and the thinking world is going to come to realize who was behind this malicious act.
Instigating the Maidan Coup is going to be a watershed moment. The beginning of the end. Because the empire has bitten off more than it can chew and there is nothing it can do about that except run away leaving a huge mess in it’s wake.
“....I see our CIA tactics have..”
No, not yours, troll. Yours is in Yasenevo.
Just like LBJ’s “OMG, we have lost Cronkite.”?
The driving force behind the war-making: The UK!
This cabal has been the prime mover behind many of the conflicts around the world, and has shaped the aggressive British foreign policy over the last few centuries. But this fact is seldom discussed in the media and has remained largely shielded from any public scrutiny. Even in Britain, few are aware of the fact that since the end of World War II, the UK has launched more than 83 military interventions in 47 nations around the world.
Excerpted:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2023-02-03/escalation-world-war-iii-and-british-establishment
It sounds like Russia’s Viet Nam.
The above confirms Col. Macgregor's casualty numbers (157,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers and more than 400,000 dead/injured and injured).
Brigade in Bakhmut asks for 500 body bags. Bakhmut survival time for recruits is 4 hours. Technicals go to the front.
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