Russian police detained two women and five children who were trying to lay flowers at the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow, according to a report on social media.
Alexandra Arkhipova said in the Facebook post Tuesday that the mothers and their children were held in a police van before being taken to a police station.
She posted photographs and video of the children in the detainment center behind bars in the Russian station. She also claimed that the police threatened to take away custody of the children from their mothers.
Initially, the parents were told they might be held overnight but eventually they were released the same day.
“The parents are in fear,” wrote Arkhipova, who added that they are facing a trial and a fine, but with unspecified charges.
Arkhipova said the children were aged from 7 to 11 years.
Protests against the invasion into Ukraine have grown in Russia despite a crackdown by law enforcement. One report from last week said that as many as 2,000 were arrested for joining in the demonstrations against the war, but that number has jumped to more than 6,840.
Arina Adju, an activist in Russia, told The Guardian that the opposition to the war has divided Russians between the older generations and the youth.
“To be honest, it’s deep propaganda here that worked for almost 20 years I guess, so most of the older generation, they’re looking to the TV, and there is total propaganda, not any word of truth,” she explained.
Protests against the war are expected to grow as economic and financial sanctions take a toll on the Russian economy.
“It’s impossible to forgive us, but I hope there will be peace again,” Adju added.
Here’s more about the growing protests in Russia:
‘Ukrainians are our friends’: the young Russian anti-war protesters defying Putin
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