More than 2,300 people have been arrested in Russia since the announcement of the partial mobilization

More than 2,350 people have been detained across Russia since President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a “partial mobilization”, according to independent protest monitoring group OVD-Info.

At least 2,352 people were detained in various Russian cities from September 21 to 25, but the number could be higher, the latest OVD-Info figures showed on Monday.

On Sunday, at least 128 people were detained in five cities, including Makhachkala, Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Reftinsky and Kotlas, OVD-Info said.

Makhachkala is the capital of the predominantly Muslim region of Dagestan.

Heated protests have erupted in some ethnic minority regions in Russia, including Dagestan, with activist groups and Ukrainian officials saying these minorities are being disproportionately targeted for recruitment in the war.

protests

Russia’s “partial mobilization” to continue war in ukraine got off to a chaotic start amid protests, mistakes and an exodus of citizens fleeing Russia, as the Kremlin tightens rules on evading military orders.

Some residents of the Sakha Republic, located in Russia’s Far East, were recruited “by mistake”, despite not being eligible for mobilization, as parents of underage children, according to a local leader.

“All those who were mobilized by mistake must be returned. This work has already begun,” said the head of the republic, Aisen Nikolaev, in a post on Telegram, after a meeting on the presidential decree of partial mobilization announced this week.

Two Russian lawmakers acknowledged the issues on Sunday, saying the mobilization must be carried out “in accordance with the law” and lamenting reports of “erroneous incidents of citizen mobilization”.

(With input from Katharina Krebs, Simone McCarthy and Sana Noor Haq of CNN)