Russian military wives protest in Moscow for the first time. British intelligence explains what this means

This was reported by the UK Ministry of Defence.

It is noted that the protesters gathered on the central Teatralnaya Square of the Russian capital with unfurled banners and demanded the return of their husbands from the front line.

According to British intelligence, since February 2022, examples of Russian wives and mothers filing online appeals to protest the conditions of their loved ones' service have appeared on social media every day. However, Russian legislation has not yet allowed military relatives to unite into an influential lobbying force, as soldiers' mothers did during the Afghan-Soviet War of the 1980s.

As a result, on November 7, the police dispersed the protest in Moscow within minutes. However, as British intelligence has emphasized, the protesters' demand is remarkable. “The apparently indefinitely extended combat deployments of personnel without rotation is increasingly seen as unsustainable by both the troops themselves and by their relatives,” the British Ministry of Defence noted.

• In November, the number of Russians who support negotiations with Ukraine reached 48%, the first time it exceeded the number of those who want the war to continue, which currently stands at 39%.