People are out on the streets after Putin gave a partial mobilization announcement earlier today, according to Sky news’ Diana Magnay’s reports from the city.
“We haven’t seen protests in cities for the last five or six months, people have been so scared of the fact that they will be detained and that is clearly what is happening.
“But this mobilisation announcement has brought people out onto the streets here in Moscow and in various other cities across the country.
“Police are dealing with them very brutally, it’s extraordinary to see how brave people are being to hear them chanting ‘no to war’, to brave the police reaction.
“I’m not saying everybody in this country is against this partial mobilization, I’ve been out on the streets talking to people today and some people, especially the older generation, are saying, ‘this is what we have to do, we have to save the people of Donbas’, and they soak up Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric.
“But there are people here who don’t agree with this, who are worried about this escalation, who don’t want to go and have to fight.
“This is something that the Kremlin has avoided, they have said this entire duration, that they are not considering a partial or full mobilisation, and just two weeks after that counteroffensive, president Putin makes that announcement.”