Something strange is happening in Russia. Protest is banned, referring to ‘a war’ is punishable by up to 15 years in jail – but there are increasing signs of pushback. At least 12 military conscription offices appear to have been vandalised – some set on fire – since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. That’s according to the Ukrainian army, so we might take that with a pinch of salt. But there has been enough corroboration of this on Telegram (one of the few social media firms not blocked by the Kremlin) to take this seriously.
A look around Telegram shows buildings with varying degrees of damage, some having clearly been torched. We see offices broken and scorched doors and windows, while one video shows a firefighter inspecting the flooded interior of a recruitment office near Moscow. An independent news channel, Baza, has posted pictures from various places around Russia.
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