Moscow April 22, 2013

I saw with my own eyes a stone flying at cops. One cop (he didn’t have a badge on) picked the stone up and threw it back to the crowd. Someone from the crowd hit a cop (not identified either) with a flag pole.

I was arrested while descending Kamenny bridge at about 18.30. The OMON started offence and the crowd turned tail in panic. I stayed were I was, OMON cops passed by. When I turned back I saw a cop who caught some guy, threw him on the ground and started swiping him with a baton, with his knee standing on boy’s back. I saw that cop beat him twice. I addressed to that officer and asked him to show his documents, a badge and to explain the reason of his violent behavior, showing the Federal Law “About the police” to him which I held in my hands. At that moment, another cop came up to me from behind, grabbed me by my hand and tried to wring it, but failed. Another cop arrived to help him, and caught my second hand. I tried to explain to them that I wasn’t going to resist but they were to introduce themselves, present their documents and explain the reason for my arrest according to the FL “About the police”. One of them answered nothing, another said that his surname was “Pupkin” and tried to wring my hand, again in vain. I was brought to a paddy wagon. There were other policemen standing near it, with badges. I addressed to them begging to stop that absurd behavior of their colleagues and tell their personal data. All cops with badges immediately retrieved. The cops that arrested me checked my possessions without attesting witnesses. They wore helmets with sun-proof glass and without any badges so that was impossible to identify afterwards. After that, I was pushed into the prison truck that stood at Bolotnaya Square until 8:40 p.m. and arrived at the OVD near Rechnoy Vokzal. There were 21 men and women in the vehicle, two of them were from St. Petersburg. Police drew up a protocol and I left the police department after that (at 11:40 p.m.). Protocols were made by completely different cops, but not the ones who arrested all of us.

EWA No. 99

Cops were using batons constantly while colliding with the crowd, arrested people who fell down, beat those who were trying to protect their friends and pull back their friends from cops. Arrests were violent – they knocked people off their feet, fragged over the pavement, hit with fists. I saw a cop who lost his baton and therefore hit a demonstrator with his fist. Girls and older citizens were swiped too by the policemen, just on the spur of the moment. The participants of the march were trying to keep at safe distance from cops, evade conflicts with the latter. All possible violent acts from demonstrators’ side were nothing else but attempts to escape an unlawful arrest of cops assault of such people or their friends, who were simply defending themselves. And I think it rather sensible to consider throwing of sticks, glass bottles and use of flag poles to be really acts of self-defense against unlawful police actions. And I find it necessary to mention once again that most people didn’t have a slightest idea why a peaceful march grew into conflicts with the police followed by arrests and violent behavior of the latter.

I think most people were simply shocked since they were witnessing unjustified acts of violence towards peaceful people. Some people were trying to resist. Someone protected themselves with plastic placards poles. Someone threw stones. OMON implemented brow-beating methods to clear people away from the site. All exits were closed first, and people got trapped. Then cops started beating all demonstrators indiscriminately. Then they sliced the crowd into groups and beat separate people standing in those groups. At last a pass was created and people managed to leave Bolotnaya Square.

The mood was fabulous at the beginning of the march. People were joking, laughing at placards, were scanning slogans. There were quite different people but all were cheerful and friendly, so that I even recalled May-day demonstrations I had used to participate in when I had been a schoolgirl.

I was at the river and embankment fence almost all the time. When it was announced from the stage that the meeting wouldn’t be held I tried to make my way to the “Udarnik” cinema-theater to find a way out from the square, but there came shouts from somewhere ahead and I returned. Several time people tried to run in the direction of the stage when OMON cops used to force people away, but there stood a middle-aged officer with a military bearing and stopped running people three or four times saying that people would trample themselves down. I thought at that moment that he might probably have prevented a real mass jam, which was horrible in itself, moreover there were completely no ways out seen from the square.

Several cops with rubber batons used to run up, grab any man who was closer to them and took him away, with his head bent down and arms behind his back. Some people couldn’t move with fear and because of suddenness, then cops dragged them and one or two other cops got their backs, although none of demonstrators carried out any actions in response, they simply shouted. As I wrote above, I saw a man was hit with a baton at his arm when he was holding his friend round shoulders. After that, they both were taken to a prison truck. OMON soldiers took people to buses, where other cops checked all of them further, some people were released, some were put into buses. And OMON soldiers returned back and took new people away, it was a real conveyor.

I witnessed all events that were taking place at the “Udarnik” at a distance. I couldn’t distinguish details since I am short-sighted. I just saw OMON colliding into groups of peacefully standing demonstrators who had no ways out of there, grabbed those standing closer to them and moved them away to the buses standing behind the stage. Then my friend came, who wanted to find an exit and told that he had seen cops had hit a journalist, and he had been bleeding, and my friend gave him a bandage he had found in his bag occasionally. Then I saw young men throwing toilets to barricade themselves from OMON soldiers. They all got arrested later, too. I witnessed not a single case of demonstrators assaulting a cop, at least near the embankment where I stood. I saw two police helmets swimming in the river, a police boat tried to pick them up later, but people shouted and the boat sailed under Maly Kamenny bridge. Later, when the square in front of the “Udarnik” was cleared from people, policemen started to move in our direction surrounding us from the four sides. I could see it since I stood on the parapet, which is a bit higher than Bolotnaya Square. People were just standing, I was asking cops where should we go but they kept silent and were just standing, too. Than a short lieutenant colonel ran up and ordered to move forward to the chain. Several journalists addressed him asking to let them go, which the cops did. My friend and I repeated the request, but this time cops wouldn’t let us leave. At some moment, we got face to face with cops chain, and I watched cops seized men from the crowd and led them away. People didn’t protest. Some people hold hands together not to let cops take away anyone from the crowd. One cop hit a man, rather strongly, at his hand, I even saw a hematoma later on. He was pulled away too, but released in a while – I saw him returning to his friends. The lieutenant colonel kept fussing around the chain from all four sides and ordered soldiers to move forward. People were in a jam and asked each other for excuses when they had to step on each other’s feet. We could breathe with difficulty, people cried: “What are you doing?” Then the chain opened from the side of the stage, and people got a possibility to leave the site, which we did and headed to Polyanka metro station. Nobody chased us, there were no cops except those standing near the entrance to the subway station. A woman from Astrakhan accompanied us, and she was telling us how they were travelling from Astrakhan to this rally. They got off in Tula and went by suburban train then, but their friend who had stayed in the previous train with their things was arrested. Thus, I reached the subway and went home.

EWA No. 106

I witnessed OMON cops were using rubber batons, legs and arms, and even tear-gas which I felt myself. I saw an elderly man came up to cops chain with the words: “What are you doing?!” – he was hit with a baton, his temple started bleeding. Then I saw demonstrators taking off helmets from cops and throwing them into the river, and then a group of two or three cops was knocked down and beaten by the returned crowd. Though all those cops got up and walked themselves afterwards. That’s all what I remember.

I returned from Bolotnaya to the corner at Maly Kamenny bridge. Conflicts were on there by that time already. First, we stood in chains with people who were around to resist OMON rushing into our crowd to grab separate demonstrators. We stepped back at some moment and got dispersed. A cop grasped a man standing next to me and pulled him away. I caught that man too and began to pull him to my side. Someone rushed into us from aside and we all fell down. Suddenly a hand appeared in front of me and sprayed gas right into my eyes. Last, I could see was a young guy lying on the pavement in front of me, with blood running from his head. I think after OMON sprayed the gas they fell back for a while, and I was crawling over the ground for some time and could see nothing. Some guys helped me to get to the river and wash my eyes. As soon as I was able to open my eyes (in about half an hour), I headed home.

I remember cops grabbing separate people out of the crowd and driving or even dragging them away in the direction of the “Udarnik”. Cops often simply beat people (lying already on the ground) and then returned into their chain. People in the crowd were trying to keep each other from sudden inadequate actions.

I was bandaging three young guys, they all were without masks or any weapon and showed no signs of aggression, and an elder lady who was hit by a cop rather strongly with a baton (she was keeping someone by his clothes preventing OMON soldiers take him away). Her hand was bleeding near bones, she was rather perplexed. One young guy had his eyebrow dissected and the wound was bleeding heavily. Probably he had brain concussion since he didn’t manage to understand straight away what I was saying to him. He was almost snatched out of cops and was walking with support. He behaved rather peacefully before that and it was impossible to predict such situation. I’m eager to refer all the details in a private talk to a person whom I can trust, and I’m ready to identify that guy on a photo if necessary. He is not listed in the case of the people arrested on May 6, and I wouldn’t like to do any harm to him by such actions. Another guy who was standing very close to me was hit very badly by a cop with his elbow right at the boy’s neck, and fainted. He was taken away without any vital signs. Afterwards I found out that he was alive, thanks God.

EWA No. 111

First of all, there passed some people wearing some strange plywood figures of people with some abusive words referred to demonstrators written on them, something like “carton rioter”. It was before metal detection arches yet. They were asked to leave, people cried shame on them. But those guys kept standing and keeping silent, hiding behind veneer figures. Other people began to throw small coins into them, and then pulled out those figures out of their hands and destroyed them. Those guys ran away.

At the very beginning of the events, when I stood at the entry to Maly Kamenny bridge, people were passing me by holding their heads and other parts of a body with their hands. They told cops had beaten them. One of them heard a policeman got a message over his portable radio speaker that several policemen had been injured with a knife by demonstrators. It was before all that mess began, so I think it was the main reason for further cops’ particular violence.

I can’t say for sure whether it was the beginning of the conflict. We came up to the corner of Maly Kamenny bridge and Bolotnaya Square from Bolotnaya side, and stayed at the embankment near the trees. Groups of “spacemen” in the form of a wedge began to separate from their chain: one or two “spacemen” in front and about 5 cops behind them from each side holding each other by a shoulder with one hand. They moved forward quickly. Having reached a peacefully standing crowd of demonstrators, they would start beating everyone around with their batons, grab people indiscriminately and drive them away (probably to their paddy wagons, be we didn’t see it). I saw cops beating women, men, people of different age, with different flags, placards or without anything at all. People fell down onto the pavement, cops kept whacking them, with batons and feet. Someone pushed my brother, he fell down and injured his hand, then got up and we ran towards Bolotnaya. “Spacemen” got back to their initial position, closer to the “Udarnik” cinema-theater. We returned to the trees at the embankment. Such OMON assaults repeated several times. Then some chief officer separated from the column of policemen (there is his photo available). Several people and I came up to him and asked what was going on, and why cops behaved so violently towards peacefully standing people. He answered that they were arresting those people who were leading to mass disorders. We started to object to it, since no demonstrators broke the peace, all people were just standing. Probably there were any cases of breaking of the order from the other side of the crowd, but here there was nothing like that observed. People stayed bewildered whether they should go to the stage where a meeting was to take place, or leave the site.

I witnessed cops knocked down a woman of about 80. Several men rushed to help her, but got blows with batons from cops. Some of them where taken away by cops towards the “Udarnik”. I don’t think I will be able to recognize their faces, but dozens of people were beaten with batons, which I saw with my own eyes. Demonstrators’ actions were exclusively of defensive character. When cops were beating and dragging someone away, other people were trying to take the arrested away from cops.

We stood at the embankment at the very corner, near the trees close to the river. We ran away for a while towards Bolotnaya, when new assaults were started by policemen, and then we returned again. Then we crossed the bridge to the other river side believing that conflicts ended and people were leaving. But from that place we could see already that chains of “spacemen” cordoned meeting participants from all sides, as if in a trap, divided the embankment into areas and started pressing people and whacking them with batons rather actively. People had no way out.

Which I find most abnormal is extreme unjustified violence of cops towards peacefully standing people, together with act of crowd “slicing”, jamming people and creating traps with no ways out for the latter.

EWA No. 118

It was about 6:00 p.m., when I was standing in front of the cordon and saw two cops trying to grab a girl standing by my side, but she managed to pull out her hand and squeeze backwards. Cops seemed embarrassed for a moment, but then they grabbed me and lead to a prison truck, with my hands wringed, in spite of the fact that neither I had thrown a thing into cops, nor showed any signs of aggression. I even agreed to walk myself asking not to wring my hands. My joint ached me for a long time afterwards, I could hardly move my hand for two weeks. I asked cops to introduce themselves, show their documents, explain the reason for my arrest, etc. But I got no reply but for swear words. It was the same inside of a paddy wagon: they neither answered any questions, nor presented any documents, completely no reaction to my questions.

As it turned out later, there was a narrow walkway to Bolotnaya Square. My wife, our adult daughter and I started to squeeze through dense demonstrators’ mass in that direction. Suddenly we heard several claps somewhere near the park, then clouds of dark smoke appeared. Some 7–10 minutes later I saw several people (about 4 or 5) in “balaclava” masks making their way through the crowd rather fast towards Yakimanka. OMON soldiers in groups of 8–10 people started to rush into the crowd, grab 2–3 people from it and step pack pulling the arrested with them. Demonstrators tried to stand up to the cops pulling their friends back from cops. Cops swiped those who opposed to them with batons, arms and even their feet. Cops dragged the arrested holding them by arms and legs, and sometimes even dragged over the pavement to the square behind their chains where prison trucks stood. I saw a cop hitting an elderly woman, and after that she was pulled away by her hands and feet behind the cordon. Several people cried: “Leave the woman alone!” and tried to pull her back, but where hit with batons by cops and had to retrieve. Then cops announced by means of loud speakers that the meeting was over and asked people to leave. Large groups of OMON cops wedged into people crowd, dividing them into separate groups and forcing out to the pavement of Maly Kamenny bridge. A cordon of OMON and soldiers was standing along the pavement of the traffic way. There were police buses and paddy wagons on the bridge. Arrests continued. The site was cleared out of demonstrators by about 7.00 p.m.

I stood at the corner until it got too “hot” there: cops started grabbing people from the crowd, beating with batons and dragging away towards prison trucks. Cops were whacking people – I saw it all, it was impossible to fail to notice it. Some were trying to protect themselves, their relatives, friends. OMON cops were very tough in their actions, but stepped aside for a while when got a number of first awkward hits in reply, and started to plan more organized and aggressive actions. And then, the real “heat” began. Two young men accompanied me and I was in charge of them, so we moved towards the stage. I witnessed so many cruel actions while standing at the corner that nothing else but hatred arose within my soul towards those cruel “executors”. I had a strong desire to put my camera aside and take a big stone in my hands! I could hardly control myself. But I did since I was in charge of others. What else I want to add regarding the metal fencing: people tried to cover themselves behind it from enraged police forces, but cops kept assaulting while using gas (I got the proofs on pictures). And I managed to shot one cop throwing a burning “fire” (or how they call it) into people dressed in light summer clothing.

We stood near the stage when it was being disassembled, though the time of the meeting was not over yet, then we tried to go back, but the path was already blocked by cops. All ways out were cordoned by that time without any exits possible. An extremely unpleasant feeling! Some people said that cops were going to whack us (there were about two or three thousand people in our sector), others – that we were going to be arrested. But eventually a narrow pass was opened along Bolotnaya naberezhnaya and cops drove us as if we were a herd of cattle, or like fascists had been driving their prisoners.

EWA No. No..123

The most vivid recollection: cops were wringing some timid boy. He stood about a meter and half from my site and looked like Harry Potter. The boy was frightened, it was obvious, but he kept standing in the first row for some reason until he was caught by a policeman. That guy did nothing wrong! Even kept silent, although everyone around him was shouting: “Murderers!”, “Fascists!”, “Russia without Putin!” Then they wringed some girl and hit her at hand with a baton. A boy jumped out of the crowd (probably her boyfriend), started to keep policemen at hands to prevent them from beating that girl. But he was thrown on to the pavement by cops, his hands wringed, and cops dragged him to their paddy wagons together with that girl. I saw a father stood up for his son: jumped onto cop’s back who was assaulting that man’s son, managed to fight the cop off. Quite an ordinary man, in glasses, looked like an engineer. He took a cop’s baton away. Three cops assaulted him and started to beat. People saved him, having pulled him back into the crowd. He saved his son. A real hero – can’t describe him in any other way.

Extremely warm atmosphere, nice weather, pleasant communications, no reasons for violence, even a short concert prepared by the MSU students. All events that happened later were a shock to me.

Yes, I witnessed policemen hitting unarmed people (even those who were already lying on the ground) with their feet, truncheons, fists, with some particular hatred, as if really aiming at injuring people severely. I insist that arrests were executed at random, and any meeting participant had every chance to get arrested. I witnessed cops took down a girl from a fence, with a placard in her hands, and wringed her, forcing her to a prison truck. Then they pulled out a guy from the crowd and drove him such a blow with a fist at his face that I think he got rather a serious trauma at that moment. He lost coordination, with his head bent backwards completely unnaturally. Someone caught him from falling and tried to pull back to the crowd. Which is more disgusting; all those actions of unarmed peaceful people assault by enraged police representatives were going on at the place approved by the authorities as a site for a peaceful concerted action! I saw people throwing different objects into cops from the crowd: plastic bottles, or something else. But I’m sure it was nothing else but self-defense of peaceful citizens against zombie-like cops armed up to their teeth!

As far as I can judge meeting participants behaved very peacefully, like they had used to during any other actions or meetings conducted earlier. People felt completely at ease. I saw plenty of cheerful and calm faces. People were happy about the sun, spring, they talked, read poetry.

And on the contrary, cops looked unnaturally gloomy, strained and hostile. There were some strange people walking in the middle of the crowd, with masks on their faces, they didn’t communicate with any of the participants and it seemed as if they were looking for something or someone. Several OMON chains closed the rear, and vehicles moved after them (trucks if I’m not mistaken). This fact in combination with strain and hostility of OMON cops produced impression on me as if they were preparing for some forceful actions, while all the demonstrators behaved peacefully and the overall atmosphere was rather joyful and cheerful.

EWA No. 132

Demonstrators: a guy dressed in a leather jacket rushed with all his body onto cops ranks. Police: standard rude behavior, as usual. Grabbing people out of the crowd, taking people away, wringing their hands, arrests without and reasons. Beating anyone around indistinctly, including people with cameras. No violence was applied to me personally, but for one case of provocation, when a cop pulled a Pussy-mask from my head off with an evil grin, like at school “now you try to get it back”, and when I actually tried, he just passed it further over OMON cops who wouldn’t give the mask back. I got enraged. And I got surprised with cops’ behavior at some moment: they began to force people towards a foot-bridge, while other police chains forced people in the opposite direction, right towards us.

I saw an elderly woman dragged by cops from first crowd rows. She was hit with a baton at her head. Someone called for a doctor, people cried that she would pass away. I dialed 112 and described the situation with that woman. Then there was a break for about 20 minutes. The woman was pulled away to the bridge by several people where an ambulance stood. There was a corridor for demonstrators to leave.