Thousands of Russians were arrested over the weekend who were protesting against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to OVD-Info, roughly 5,000 protesters were arrested in 69 Russian cities Sunday. Since the beginning of the protests against the invasion, 13,000 demonstrators have been detained in 140 cities.
Maria Kuznetsova, a spokesman for OVD-Info, said, “The screws are being fully tightened ― essentially we are witnessing military censorship.”
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Russians to speak out against the invasion.
“It’s a fight for your country too,” he said. “If you’re silent now then only your poverty will speak later — and it will be answered by repression.”
The Associated Press reported both Russia and Ukraine say they have made little progress during the third round of discussions.
Russia’s top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said the country’s expectations “from the talks have failed, but we hope that we would be able to make a more significant step forward next time.”
He added, “The talks will continue.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an appearance on “State of the Union” he expects the war to continue for the foreseeable future.
“Vladimir Putin has, unfortunately, the capacity, with the sheer manpower that he has in Ukraine and the overmatch that he has, the ability to keep grinding things down against incredibly resilient and courageous Ukrainians,” Blinken said.
He added, “I think we have to be prepared for this to last for some time. But just winning a battle is not winning the war.”
Additionally, Blinken said the United States is “now talking to our European partners and allies to look in a coordinated way at the prospect of banning the import of Russian oil, while making sure that there is a still an appropriate supply of oil on world markets.”
He continued, “That’s a very active discussion as we speak.”