Activists describe the conflict as 'horrific' and don masks to spray messages on Russian streets.
These members of the secretive Feminist Anti-War Resistance group in Russia say the war in Ukraine is "senseless"
When we meet Mitya and Vorobei, their protest has taken the form of an anti-war message spray-painted on the pavement outside a school. It is part of a series of actions targeting mothers - who may one day have to send their sons off to war. Being an anti-war activist in Russia is dangerous. Rights groups say there have been more than 16,000 detentions across the country for anti-war actions. Very few people now publicly oppose the war. Those who do speak out risk arrest or losing their job, university place or business."They were all broken up in the most violent way - the police use tasers, batons, there's complete helplessness. And then you might get tortured in the police station.
Vitaly has been arrested, fined and even brutally beaten. But he carries on, and tries to convince others to join him. So far, nobody has. We walk with him to the city centre, where he stands under a fir tree with his anti-war placard. While we talk, a woman angrily confronts him. She snatches his sign and rips it to pieces, bellowing that he is "selling the Motherland for money".
But many people in Smolensk clearly support his anti-war stance. We see several locals stop to chat, shake his hand and offer kind words.
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