On April 23, Petrozavodsk activist Vladimir Tikhonov held a single picket against war and war propaganda. The action was timed to the arrival of a train with captured equipment seized by Russian troops in Syria, the 7x7 correspondent reported.
“I came here to stand on a single picket against the war. The poster symbolizes the main postulate — no war. The so-called trophy train from Syria arrives in the city, which carries the direct propaganda of the war. I think that it is wrong. So I went to the picket. The younger generation, I think, is brought up wrong. We should not carry these false symbols to our people, our children,” Tikhonov told a 7x7 correspondent.
Irina Biryukova, a lawyer at the Public Verdict Human Rights Foundation, on February 27 complained to the prosecutor's office of the Yaroslavl region about the lack of age markings at the railway exhibition with trophies. She believes that the demonstration of "jihad-machines" can adversely affect the psyche of children.
The Russian army joined the civil war in Syria in 2015 on the side of government troops and President Bashar al-Assad. With the help of Russian troops, the Syrian cities of Aleppo and Palmyra were liberated. During the military operation in Syria, more than 112 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Russia were killed. Presumably, part of the fighting was conducted by mercenaries of private military companies, including from Russia. After the outbreak of hostilities, the Russian authorities announced the end of the military operation three times.
Denis Strelkov, Sergey Markelov, "7x7"