Moscow police call a weekend sweep of hundreds of young people a ‘preventive measure.’ Detainees report beatings, military summonses, and pressure to sign army contracts.
On the evening of November 7, police carried out a mass roundup in Moscow’s Kitai-Gorod neighborhood. By the most widely cited estimates, 150 to 200 people were detained in total (though some reports put the number at 300), most of them young people, including minors. It was a planned raid: around 8 p.m., 10 police vans pulled up to Gorka Park on Bolshoi Spasoglinishchevsky Lane, and police…
On November 7, Moscow police conducted a mass arrest in the Kitai-Gorod neighborhood, rounding up between 150 and 200 individuals, many of whom were minors. The operation was well-planned, with ten police vans arriving at Gorka Park on Bolshoi Spasoglinishchevsky Lane around 8 p.m. Detainees reported being denied water and bathroom access during transport.
Some faced physical abuse, including one individual who claims to have been punched multiple times. Police denied parents access to see their detained children, leading to a tense standoff outside the Tagansky district police station. At least 17 detainees were fined for public intoxication, while several received military summonses.
The human rights group Idite Lesom received reports of summonses demanding detainees update their military registration records, with some detainees facing difficulties proving their deferments due to academic status. The Interior Ministry labeled the raid as a "preventive measure," while the head of the Safe Internet League defended the detained teenagers, questioning why parents were barred from the police station.
This was not an isolated incident, as at least six similar raids targeted young people in central Moscow since the start of the year.
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