Arrests at Moscow protest by wives of soldiers fighting in Ukraine

Russian police on Saturday detained at least four people, including reporters, at a weekly protest outside the Kremlin by the wives of mobilised soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

The wives of mobilised soldiers have staged rare protests in Moscow demanding their spouses be brought home from Ukraine.

A video published by SOTA, an independent media outlet, showed police detaining two people wearing yellow vests with "Press" written on them and two others.

Earlier this month, police detained a group of around 20 reporters at the same protest, warning media oulets -- including AFP -- against covering the demonstrations.

Saturday's arrests came on the second anniversary of the launch of Moscow's Ukraine offensive.

One of the women's organisations -- "Put Domoy" (The Way Home) -- had called on social media for protests at noon in Russian cities.

The SOTA video showed a woman wearing a yellow "Press" vest saying: "Why are you detaining me?"

It also showed a man carrying flowers being taken away by police.

The women have symbolically brought red flowers to the tomb of the unknown soldier outside the Kremlin every Saturday.

"In our times even laying flowers is expressing a civic position that carries certain risks," one of the women taking part in the protest, Nadezhda, told SOTA.

Authorities have mainly detained journalists as well as men at the protests, stopping short of arresting protesting women.

AFP