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Harry Fletcher
Mar 03, 2022
Elderly woman detained in Russian anti-war protest
@IlyaYashin,Twitter
More moving footage has emerged from the war in Ukraine, after a survivor of the Siege of Leningrad was arrested in Russia for protesting against the conflict.
The elderly pensioner, Yelena Osipova, is seen being taken away by riot police in St. Petersburg in the viral footage.
The 77-year-old has become known for her activism and political art during her life. She survived the Nazi’s Siege of Leningrad as a baby.
She was seen holding messages calling for soldiers to lay down their arms before being led away, watched on by a large crowd.
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“In St. Petersburg, the famous blockade survivor Elena Osipova was arrested,” the caption for the video posted by Twitter user Ilya Yashin read, translated from Russian.
Social media users have been reacting to Osipova’s courage by demonstrating against the conflict.
“Putin's regime arresting Yelena Osipova, survivor of the Siege of Leningrad during the Second World War, for protesting against Putin's war in St Petersburg,” one wrote.
“What sort of government is scared of a little old lady holding placards?”
Osipova lived throughout one of the darkest periods in Russian history, which saw the protracted conflict last a total of 872 days and saw one million of the city's civilians and armed defenders lose their lives.
Thousands of people have already reportedly been detained after taking to the streets of Moscow, St Petersburg, and other cities over the week to protest against the illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The war has entered its second week. The country reports that more than 2,000 civilians have died since the invasion began last Thursday. The conflict has also caused more than a million people to flee Ukraine, according to the UN.
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