The current Russian-Ukrainian military conflict has led to a wild explosion of the most disgusting, cavernous nationalism on both sides of the front line. In Russia, they are calling to "crush" the enemy, in Ukraine - to fight for the "fatherland" to the last man. In both states, propaganda seeks to "dehumanize" the enemy as much as possible, and, unfortunately, many ordinary people fall into a trap set by those in power. Even many "leftists" and "anarchists" eagerly rush to support the bloodshed, intoxicated with patriotic rubbish.

Unfortunately, this is always the case in wars waged by states. Suffice it to recall the mass hysterical processions that swept through the countries on the eve and in the first weeks of the First World War. Then several years passed - and the masses, enraged by hardships, deceit and suffering, almost did away with the world of states and capitals, which gave rise to wars ... Now, alas, it is infinitely far from that. True, it seemed so in the distant August 1914 ...

All the more attention and respect deserve the actions of people in Russia and Ukraine, directed against military "operations", hostilities, destruction and bloodshed. The past month since Russian troops invaded Ukraine already allows for a brief overview of the main forms and methods of anti-war protests.

Let's start with Russia. Here, from the very first day, mass demonstrations against the war began, which did not stop for two to three weeks. At first, they generally took place daily, and throughout the country. All of them were illegal and brutally dispersed. In addition to street meetings and processions, other methods are also used - hanging posters, drawing graffiti, posting leaflets and stickers, and distributing anti-war materials.

In a number of cases, actions that were more radical in form were also noted. For example, in Moscow, student Anastasia Levashova threw a Molotov cocktail at the police on February 24; the court sentenced her to 2 years in prison (https://tass.ru/proisshestviya/14204409). On the night of February 28, a military registration and enlistment office was set on fire in Lukhovitsy near Moscow (https://www.mk.ru/incident/2022/03/13/stalo-izvestno-kak-sbezhal-iz-poli...). In St. Petersburg, a policeman was doused with pepper spray from a can. On the night of March 1, a police station in Smolensk was set on fire (https://smolensk-i.ru/accidents/poyavilis-podrobnosti-podzhoga-otdela-po...). On the night of March 3, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the windows of a recruiting station in Voronezh (https://novostivoronezha.ru/2022/03/03/225927). Throwing two Molotov cocktails at the Kremlin wall in Moscow was also reported (https://libcom.org/article/two-weeks-russian-invasion-short-overview-rad...). A police station in Krasnoyarsk was set on fire. On March 5, an attempt was made to set fire to the military enlistment office in Berezovsky (Sverdlovsk region) with a Molotov cocktail (https://www.e1.ru/text/criminal/2022/03/18/70512605/)...

Most of the protests are spontaneous. In a number of cases, the bourgeois liberal opposition called for them, and on March 8, feminist organizations called for them. Unfortunately, not all of the protesters can be considered truly anti-war, that is, truly opposed to all belligerents. Among the protesters (especially liberal ones) there are many supporters of Ukraine; even NATO sympathizers have been spotted.

The exact number of protesters is unknown, but at least the number of cities in which demonstrations took place and the number of people detained and repressed during the protests speak of the scale. In total, street actions were arranged in more than 100 cities and towns. According to human rights activists, by March 13 alone, the police seized about 15 thousand people at these protests (https://ovdinfo.org/articles/2022/03/13/18-y-den-voyny-i-protestov-zader...). Only a few are released simply "with a warning"; thousands of people are subjected to monetary fines or administrative arrests. Only in St. Petersburg alone, until March 25, the courts considered 3710 cases: 861 people were fined, 2456 were subjected to administrative arrest, 123 were sentenced to forced labor (https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5280512)

Some protesters face even more severe penalties - criminal ones. The new laws on spreading "false information" and "discrediting the army" carry prison sentences of up to 15 years. In the month since the outbreak of hostilities, 60 criminal cases were initiated in Russia, one way or another related to the protests. 46 people were subjected to criminal prosecution (in respect of two - under two articles). Nine of them are in custody, three are under house arrest, and two more courts have ordered a ban on certain actions. At least five of the accused are outside Russia. In total, cases were initiated in 22 regions of Russia: Adygea, Tatarstan, Karelia, Moscow city, Ingushetia, St. Petersburg, Kemerovo, Tomsk, Tyumen, Belgorod, Vladimir, Moscow, Tula, Sverdlovsk, Pskov, Samara, Rostov, Novosibirsk regions, Crimea, Primorsky, Krasnodar , and the Trans-Baikal Territory. Criminal cases are being investigated under 14 articles of the criminal code - 10 under the new criminal article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on military fakes, 9 - under article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (part 2) "Vandalism motivated by hatred" (against at least three street artists - in Moscow, Vladimir and Yekaterinburg), 9 - under article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (part 1) on the use of violence against representatives, 2 - on charges of “justifying terrorism” (in Kazan and Petrozavodsk). In addition, cases of hooliganism, insulting a representative of the authorities, calls for extremist activities, incitement of hostility, storage of ammunition, inclination to riots and even desecration of the bodies of the dead and their burial places are being investigated (https://t.me/pchikov/4774)

In Ukraine, anti-war protests are no less difficult than in Russia. In addition to the repressions of the authorities, which have begun to ban and arrest political opponents and adopt terrorist laws (including punishments for “collaboration with the aggressor”, “looting” and “high treason” from 15 years in prison to life imprisonment), the conditions of hostilities themselves prevent protests. How to go to street actions under a hail of Russian missiles and shells that pose a direct threat to life? However, even here it is possible, based on fragmentary information, to present at least a general picture.

One of the most common actions objectively directed against the consequences of a military conflict is the so-called “looting”, numerous cases of which were reported from many cities of Ukraine. Of course, a variety of incidents are included in this category - from banditry, murders and robbery against the civilian population and ending with a real social protest, when residents of cities and towns, left without food and other essential goods, simply expropriate them in shops and shops. Such “popular expropriations” and “hunger riots” were noted both in cities controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (https://nv.ua/kharkiv/harkov-operativnaya-obstanovka-policiya-zaderzhala... harkova-50229711.html; https://assembly.org.ua/mnogo-volonterstva-malo-maroderstva-chem-zhivet-...), and in those occupied by Russian troops (https:/ /aitrus.info/node/5926)

There were attempts by the population to stop the entry of Russian military equipment into settlements in order to avoid destruction. So, in Koryukovka (Chernihiv region), on February 27, local residents came out to meet Russian tanks, stopped the column and entered into negotiations with it. As a result, they agreed that the military would not enter the city (https://24tv.ua/ru/vrag-otoshel-chernigovshhine-ljudi-ulicah-ostanavliva...).

On March 26, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Slavutych held talks with the Russian troops that entered the city and agreed with them on demilitarization. He assured them that there were no soldiers and weapons in the city, and persuaded the soldiers to leave it. The Russian military "will not search houses," but people must voluntarily hand over non-hunting weapons. Local Ukrainian authorities remain in Slavutych, to which the Russian side will transfer humanitarian aid (https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2022/03/26/7334734/)

On the other hand, there is evidence that residents are also demanding that the Ukrainian military not place military equipment in their residential areas. A video of a similar protest from Kharkov circulated on social networks) (https://47channel.ru/event/xarkovcane-potrebovali-ot-vsu-ubrat-voennuyu-...)

Separately, it should be said about disobedience to orders and desertion on both sides. Unfortunately, there is no way to verify the reality of the many rumors circulating. The media mentioned low morale and little desire to fight in the Russian military units sent to Ukraine (https://www.blick.ch/ausland/chaos-stress-frustration-sieht-aus-als-wuer... russen-desertieren-id17302601.html).

The Ukrainian side claimed that about 200 Russian marines from the 155th brigade refused to take part in military operations, but this claim cannot be verified. It was also reported about the refusal of the military personnel of the 810th Marine Brigade, stationed in the Crimea, to take part in the landing in the Odessa region (https://nv.ua/ukraine/events/vtorzhenie-rossii-v-ukrainu-morpehi-v-krymu...)

But there are other reports, very fragmentary, which do not allow us to judge the scale of the phenomenon. The mother of one of the soldiers assigned to a unit in the Leningrad region said that her son, like many others who were drafted into the army, was forced to sign a contract with the army. In January, a unit was sent to Kursk, then to Belgorod, and then they began to be sent to fight in Ukraine. “According to the woman, the soldiers are taken to Ukraine to fight, but some of them refuse, they are threatened with an article on desertion” (https://www.currenttime.tv/a/mat-rossiiskogo-voennogo-ob-ucheniyah-i-ugr...)

A contract soldier from Ufa, Albert Sakhibgareev, said that his brigade, while on exercises in the Belgorod region at the end of February, received machine guns and an order to fire from artillery mounts “where they were ordered.” The soldiers began to doubt that they were in training when return shots flew in their direction. After that, Sakhibgareev looked at the news on his mobile phone and found out that Russia had sent troops to Ukraine. A week later, he was beaten by an ensign, left the unit and returned home to Ufa. For desertion, he could face up to 7 years in prison (https://meduza.io/feature/2022/03/23/nikto-ne-ponimal-chto-proishodit-my...)

12 fighters of the Krasnodar OMON, together with commander Farid Chitaev, refused to enter the Crimea. The fighters of the Russian Guard explained the refusal to execute the order as illegal - none of the fighters was informed about the tasks and conditions of the “special operation”. No one agreed to participate in it. The fighters were fired from service (https://93.ru/text/incidents/2022/03/29/70535243/)

Several fighters of the Izhevsk OMON, after the destruction of their platoon with heavy equipment, left the territory of Ukraine and wrote reports on dismissal (https://bloknot-krasnodar.ru/news/devyat-iz-12-ne-poekhavshikh-na-ukrain...)

At the end of March, the former President of South Ossetia acknowledged that some of the soldiers recruited in this republic to take part in hostilities in Ukraine returned home from the front without permission (https://t.me/eduardkokoity/40). As reported, it is talking about fighters of the 4th guards military base of the Russian Federation.

In turn, in Ukraine, not everyone is eager to "defend the fatherland." This is evidenced by posters seen in the early days of the conflict in Odessa. On them, white on black, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine sternly asks: You do not want to fight? It means you don't love your country. Naturally, the very appearance of such agitation testifies to the fact that there are quite a few such “not loving” people. The Ukrainian authorities have announced mobilization and do not let men aged 18 to 60 leave the country. Nevertheless, as comrades from Ukraine report, in reality, large-scale mobilization does not work, in contrast to 2014-2015, when mass raids on those liable for military service in Ukraine were commonplace. During the first week of hostilities, they tried to hand out subpoenas at checkpoints, but this was later declared illegal.

However, many men, just in case, try to cross the border with neighboring countries illegally. A BBC Ukrainian correspondent in early March said that at the Mogilev-Podolsky checkpoint on the border with Moldova, “in every second, if not in every first car, there were men of military age who tried to go abroad, but they were turned around, with everyone there was a clarification of the relationship. As the border guard told me, some cars simply turned around, in some the women got behind the wheel, and the men left” (https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-60651983)

According to a deputy of the city council of Mukachevo in Transcarpathia, every day hundreds of men, contrary to the current martial law, cross the border with the EU countries for a lot of money. In Transcarpathia, this shadow business has already reached an industrial scale. The cost of a certificate and transition to Poland reaches 2000 euros (https://economics.segodnya.ua/economics/enews/korrupciya-na-granice-kak-...). In the Odessa region, the cost was $ 1,500 per person (https://www.unian.net/incidents/voyna-s-rossiey-v-odesskoy-oblasti-razob...) Edition LIGA.net. who has studied the "market" and names dozens of times larger sums. More than 1,000 men of military age were caught on the border during the 21 days of the conflict, according to the Ukrainian border service. Those fleeing the war are sent to Poland, Romania, Moldova, to a lesser extent - to Hungary * https://biz.liga.net/ekonomika/all/article/vmesto-fronta-evropa-v-intern...)

Of course, not all of the men seeking to leave the country illegally should be considered people who simply do not want to fight. There are many rich people among them, since finding such money to pay for crossing the border is not an easy task. Someone, perhaps, will sell everything, but the rich do not care. They start and provoke wars, and then safely hide abroad, leaving ordinary people to die and kill for them. However, what has been said also applies to the part of the Russian "elite" that has gone into emigration.

As of March 28, more than 340 criminal offenses were registered in Ukraine, which “reduce the defense capability of Ukraine under martial law”, of which about 100 are for high treason and collaborationism. More than 1,700 male citizens of Ukraine of draft age have been identified who wished to illegally cross the border of the country. This was announced by the Communications Adviser of the State Bureau of Investigation Tatyana Sapyan. Only in the last 24 hours, the facts of organizing channels for transporting people across the border over the past 24 hours were revealed in Vinnitsa, Chernivtsi, Odessa and Lviv regions (https://www.unian.net/society/nezakonno-peresech-granicu-1700-muzhchin-g...)

In an attempt to suppress desertion, the authorities submitted bill No. 7171 to the Verkhovna Rada, which threatens up to 10 years for men of military age who illegally left Ukraine under martial law.

Finally, residents of the separatist Donetsk Republic report forced mobilization. Men are seized right on the streets, given weapons and sent to the front without any preparation. Those who can, try to hide at home and not go out. This is also one of the ways to resist the war!