The United Kingdom condemns the Kremlin’s repressive maneuvers against military personnel’s protests

The British Ministry of Defense said it was “very possible” that Russian authorities had launched a crackdown on protests by the wives of Russian soldiers fighting on the Ukrainian front. This campaign, according to British military intelligence, will include bribes to women to stop protesting, as well as discrediting messages on social networks, in a decisive maneuver after the small-scale protests organized by women in Moscow last month. The Defense Department’s assessment includes a statement published on November 27 in which a group of military personnel spoke out against “indefinite mobilization” in Ukraine. In response, four days later, the group was denounced “most likely by pro-Kremlin actors,” according to London, as a fake organization. London, citing studies conducted by independent Russian media, notes that in recent weeks, the Russian authorities have offered “increasingly large cash payments” to military families “to stop the protest.” Ultimately, the British Ministry of Defense highlighted the “special sensitivity” of the Russian authorities “towards any protest” against the citizen mobilization announced in September 2022, the participants of which have been on the front for more than a year.