During theRussian invasion of Ukraine and the resultingRussian occupation of multiple Ukrainian towns and cities, numerous cases of non-violent resistance against the invasion took place. Local residents organized protests against the invasion and blocked the movement ofRussian military equipment. The Russian military dispersed the protests, sometimes with live fire, injuring many and killing some. Most of the large protests ended in March.
Human Rights Watch reports that protesters had been tortured in the south of the occupation zone.[2]
On 25 February, the city ofKonotop was surrounded by Russian troops. On 2 March, at a gathering of city residents, the city's mayor, Artem Semenikhin (from the political partySvoboda), said that the Russian military was threatening to shell the city in case of disobedience and offered to resist. His proposal was followed by astanding ovation from the crowd.[3]
There were protests inSlavutych on 26 March, as thebattle of Slavutych escalated, with Russians attempting to occupy the city. According to reports, Russian troops had abducted the mayor of Slavutych, Yuri Fomichev; he was ultimately released in time to address a protest rally against the Russian invasion, which took place later that day in the city square.[4] More than 5,000 city residents took part in the peaceful protest,[5] until it was disrupted by Russian troops firing warning shots and launchingstun grenades into the crowd. At least one civilian was injured.[6]
On 4 March, after the occupation ofNovopskov in theLuhansk Oblast by Russian troops, local residents protested under Ukrainian flags. According toUkrainska Pravda, citing locals, one person was injured as a result of shooting at protesters.[9] On 5 March, the local residents protested again against the Russian occupation, and warning shots were again opened on them. According to the head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration,Serhiy Haidai, three locals were injured.[10][11]
On 5 March, a significant number of civilians carrying Ukrainian flags and singing the Ukrainian anthem marched through the streets ofBilokurakyne in theLuhansk Oblast. The march was stopped by Russian forces.[12]
InStarobilsk,Luhansk Oblast, civilians blocked roads for Russian military forces.[13] On 6 March, a crowd tore down and burned the flag of theLPR, which was raised by Russian troops near the local government building, and replaced it with the Ukrainian flag while singing the national anthem.[14][12]
On 8 March, locals fromSvatove in theLuhansk Oblast gathered on the streets to protest against the occupation by Russian forces. Russian soldiers later threatened to disperse the rally by opening fire.[12]
On 27 February, inDniprorudne, the residents, along with the mayor, blocked roads to stop Russian troops.[16]
On 28 February, inBerdiansk, when Russian troops had already entered the town, residents organised a protest, after which the Russians removed their technique from the city centre.[17] Similar rallies are often repeated.[18][19] On 20 March Russian troops opened warning shots, threatening the protesters, and repressed a demonstration.[20]
During 1–2 March, thousands of residents ofEnerhodar blocked the city entrance for Russian military convoys.[21][22] On 20 March, a rally against the kidnapping of residents and officials by Russian troops took place in the city.[23] On 2 April, Russian troops violently dispersed the rally with explosions.[24]
On 1 March, inMelitopol, local residents organised a protest rally during which they marched along the avenue from Victory Square to theSBU building, occupied by the Russian military. According to the online local publicationOur City, "unable to withstand the pressure [outside the building], Russian soldiers opened fire, first in the air, and then on the townspeople" and "one person received a gunshot wound in the knee".[25][26] According to theBBC News Ukrainian Service, local residents organised a peaceful protest underUkrainian flags and accused Russian soldiers of shelling and looting shops.[27] As of 10 March, processions through the Melitopol city centre were repeated daily.[28][29][30]
On 2 March, near the village ofVodiane in theZaporizhzhia Oblast, local residents blocked the road for Russian troops. Negotiations were held between the mayor of Vodiane and the mayor of the neighbouring village ofKamianka-Dniprovska with a representative of the Russian side, who said that if the military convoy passed peacefully through the settlement to its destination, no one would be hurt; residents did not accept this offer. According to the mayor of nearbyEnerhodar, at around 15:30 local time, Russian troops opened fire on the protesters, injuring two of them.[33]
On 5 March, residents ofKherson went to a rally with Ukrainian flags and chanted that the city is still Ukrainian and will never be Russian, despite Russian occupation. The Russian military opened warning fire on the protesters. At the same time, theNational Police of Ukraine published a video where a Kherson police officer, holding a Ukrainian flag in his hands, jumped on a Russian armoured personnel carrier that was driving past the rally, and local residents supported his action with shouts and applause.[35][36]
On 6 March, during a rally inNova Kakhovka, the Russian military opened fire on protesters indiscriminately "despite the fact that people were unarmed and did not pose any threat," resulting in at least one death and seven injuries. On 7 March, the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, according to Part 2 of Article 438 of theCriminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war, associated with premeditated murder), opened a criminal case on the deaths of several protesters.[39]
On 16 March, there was a rally inSkadovsk against the kidnapping of the mayor.[40][41] In the city, civilians removed Russian flags from the government building.[42]
On 20 March, protesters inKherson confronted several Russian military vehicles and told them to "go home".[43] On 27 April, the city council representatives were forced out, and a pro-Ukrainian protest was dispersed.[44]
On 21 March, Russian forces used stun grenades and gunfire to disperse pro-Ukrainian protesters in Kherson; at least one person was wounded.[45]
The “Yellow Ribbon” movement, a non-violent resistance initiative, emerged in April in the occupied territories. The movement called for residents to hang yellow ribbons and Ukrainian flags as a symbol of defiance.[58][59]
