St. Petersburg police arrest protesters calling Putin to end war in Ukraine

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 27: Many anti-war protesters in St. Petersburg gathered on Sunday opposing their country's military intervention in Ukraine. Protesters chanted slogans against war and showed solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Police arrested many demonstrators during the protest. Moscow officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine as independent states last week, followed by the start of a military operation early on Thursday. President Vladimir Putin said the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine, while calling on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms. - Donbas crisis and Russia’s military intervention The February 2014 “Maidan revolution” in Ukraine led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western government coming to power. That was followed by Russia illegally annexing the Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian populations. As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements were signed in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers. The conflict, however, simmered for years with persistent cease-fire violations. As of February 2022, some 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine. They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.(Footage by Sergei Mihailicenko /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)