Terrified Russian children, mothers arrested for protesting in Moscow

Haunting footage has shown the moment a terrified mother in Russia tried to explain to her tearful daughter why they had been arrested for protesting in Moscow.

Haunting footage has shown the moment a terrified mother in Russia tried to explain to her tearful daughter why they – along with other mothers and their children – had been arrested for laying flowers outside the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow.

Authorities in Russia have clamped down hard on anti-war demonstrators in recent days. According to official reports, nearly 7000 people across the country have been detained for protesting against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since it began on February 24.

Five children – reportedly aged between seven and 11-years-old – and their parents joined their ranks on Tuesday, detained by police after laying flowers and handing out handmade “No To War” posters.

Video showed one of the mothers explain to her daughter – who clutched her hand through the metal grill – why police had arrested them.

One of the young children detained in Moscow on the anti-war protest. Picture: East 2 West News

She tearfully held her mother’s hand through the grille. Picture: East 2 West News

“Why are you sitting there?” the little girl asks in the footage.

“Everything is going to be good, do you trust me?” her mother responds, only for her daughter to ask again why she was sitting behind bars and whether she’d be let go.

“Because they do not allow many people to gather together so they don’t say they are against the war,” the mother explains.

“Will you get out?” the girl asked again.

“Of course I’ll come out,” the mum tells her.

“When?” asks the little girl, to which her mum says, “Now, don’t worry, you are next to me.”

Photos taken later at the police station showed the children looking downcast as officers decided whether or not to keep them in overnight.

Three of the other children detained with their mothers for laying flowers to the embassy of Ukraine in Moscow, and for carrying No War posters. Picture: East 2 West News

Sociologist at Washington’s Kennan Institute, Alexandra Arkhipova, said on Wednesday all children and their parents had finally been released, adding she was mortified they’d been held by police.

“All of them were detained by the police. The police were keeping them first in a police vehicle, and brought them to the Presnenskoye police station,” she said.

“Phones were taken away from parents, and the policemen are shouting at the parents threatening these brave mums and their children, that the kids could be put into care right now, and these mothers would lose their parental rights.”

One of the mothers described their arrest as “hell”, saying her children wept and screamed when they were detained.

“I had watched videos showing the horrible inhumane bombing in Karhkiv – and realised I could no longer sit under a bush shaking and pretend nothing was happening,” the mother said, according to the Evening Standard.

“My heart is tearing with sorrow and pain. I had the most peaceful intentions – to lay flowers in the memory of civilians and children who had perished in Ukraine.”

The mother, who did not wish to be named, added that she wanted to show “we are not indifferent” and that “we are dying here too from sorrow and pain”.

One of the mothers described their arrest as “hell”, saying her children wept and screamed when they were detained. Picture: East 2 West News

Asked what it was like to be detained with her children, she called the experience “surreal”, adding that she “was not prepared for it”.

“The children started screaming, it was hell. God, I will never forget those minutes,” she said.

“Perhaps it would have been safer for my family to stay silent and not go anywhere.”

Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin tweeted the images of the detained children, writing that the “Kremlin propaganda machine” would blame the children’s parents, thus sending the message that people should not involve their kids in politics.

“Nothing out of the ordinary: just kids in paddy wagons behind an anti-war poster. This is Putin’s Russia, folks. You live here,” he wrote, before recalling his own time at school when he and his classmates drew anti-war posters.

“Many generations in our country (are) taught from the school bench that the worst thing is war, and the main value is the peaceful sky above the head … And that’s OK! Children against war is damn normal!”

Originally published as Terrified Russian children, mothers arrested for protesting in Moscow