Just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists to fight his invasion of Ukraine, a petition against the decree has reached more than 300,000 signatures.
Putin's announcement on Wednesday (September 21) came after Ukraine launched a surprise offensive against Russian forces, recapturing the Kharkiv province, which forced them to retreat.
As of Thursday morning (September 22), the Change.org petition was almost at 330,000 signatures. The page's description reads: "We, the citizens of Russia, women and men, oppose general and partial mobilization," before adding that Putin has "no legal grounds" for this decree.
"In the current situation of uncertainty, we are not ready to expose the men of our country— brothers, sons, husbands, fathers and grandfathers—to moral, or physical danger," the petition continues, per Newsweek.
Following Putin's decision to deploy reservists, protests have broken out in multiple cities across the nation, resulting in upwards of 1,000 arrests, Al Jazeera reports. Nearly 1,400 people were detained resulting from protests in 38 cities. The outlet also reports that many of those arrested were served with summons to report to military enlistment offices on Thursday - this was the first day of conscription in Russia.
According to Al Jazeera, a Kremlin spokesperson stated that this was not in violation of any laws.
Unsanctioned rallies and protests are illegal, with Moscow's prosecutor warning that those choosing to participate in demonstrations risk a prison term of up to 15 years, Newsweek detailed.
As previously reported, Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu advised citizens that only military reserves with professional experience in the armed forces will be prioritized, adding that students and conscripts would not be called.
However, The Moscow Times reports that a representative from the Citizen-Army-Law human rights group has stated that "any citizen from the military reserve can potentially be drafted."
One young person allegedly told the paper: "I don't want to be cannon fodder."
This has sparked fear within younger generations old enough to enter into combat, with Google Trends data even revealing that "как сломать руку в домашни? условия?" or "how to break an arm at home," was one of the top searched queries in the country within the last 24 hours.
One-way flights out of the country have also reportedly skyrocketed, with Moscow to Turkey or Moscow to Armenia being among the first trips to completely sell out. The cost of flights have more than tripled - flights from Moscow to Turkey swiftly jumped from 22,000 roubles ($365 USD) to around 70,000 ($1,160 USD).
The anti-war sentiment in Russia has occurred on-and-off since the country invaded Ukraine in February this year.
Already, Ukraine is investigating Russian for more than 30,000 war crimes - including murder, mass systematic rape, torture, and wanton destruction of cities and towns, as previously reported.
Photographic and video footage appearing to show a brutal massacre in Bucha, Ukraine, emerged in April, where at least 458 Ukrainians - some as young as nine - were murdered, Babel reports. Russia has since deemed the footage to be fake.
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