INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Almost 16,500 people have been detained across Russia for protesting the war in the 6 months since the invasion of Ukraine, according to
data published Wednesday by an independent human rights group.The overwhelming majority of detentions came in the first month of the
fighting before Russian lawmakers passed legislation criminalizing virtually any speech or act criticizing the war, the OVD-Info website
said.Since then, according to OVD-Info, there has been a fall from 800 detentions between March 24 and June 24 to 89 in the two subsequent
Petersburg had the highest number of detentions.More than 3,800 of those detained have been charged with offenses that carry fines as
Such cases fell from close to 900 at their peak in April to 333 so far in August.At least 224 people face criminal prosecution for acts like
prosecutor general said earlier this month that 138,000 websites have been blocked or deleted since the start of the war.
