Live updates: Russia’s war in Ukraine
A group of mothers of Russian soldiers joined an activist group to demand the withdrawal of Moscow’s troops from Ukraine, launching a petition online Sunday.
The drive, organized by the Russian Feminist Anti-War Resistance group, coincides with Mother’s Day in Russia.
The petition is published on Change.org and addressed to parliamentarians on relevant committees of the State Duma and the Federation Council. The petition had over 1,500 signatures by 5:45 p.m. Moscow time (9:45 a.m. ET) Sunday, and the number was climbing.
“For nine months now, the so-called ‘special military operation’ has been going on, which brings destruction, grief, blood and tears,” the petition reads. “Everything that happens in Ukraine and Russia worries our hearts. Regardless of what nationality, religion or social status we are, we — the mothers of Russia — are united by one desire: to live in peace and harmony, raise our children under a peaceful sky and not be afraid for their future.”
“In many regions, the families of the mobilized had to independently collect gear for their men to be sent to die, buying everything at their own expense, even bulletproof vests. Who will provide for families that have lost their breadwinners? We know the answer — all these hardships will be an additional burden on the already overloaded shoulders of mothers!” the petition continues.
The appeal describes the mothers of conscripts and mobilized soldiers as being “forced to humiliatingly knock on the thresholds of city administrations,” trying to return their men home. They hold pickets, write collective appeals, file petitions, but “no one hears them.”
“We are against the participation of our sons, brothers, husbands, fathers in this. Your duty is to protect the rights and freedoms of mothers and children, you should not turn a blind eye to all this,” the petition reads.