Two Russian women with opposing views on the war appear to be arrested within seconds of each other

A clip has gone viral after appearing to show two Russian women with opposing views on the war both being arrested in Moscow.

At the end of February, Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, calling it a “special military operation” in propaganda to its own people.

In Russia, it’s now a criminal offence for journalists to speak about anything the Kremlin deems “fake” information, including calling it a war and is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Protests about the war are similarly censored and footage captured by Activatica – a Russian-language online resource dedicated to civic activism – exemplified that, as two Russian women were arrested almost immediately after trying to share their own views.

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In a clip that has since gone viral on social media, a person is filming and conversing with a woman in Moscow.

According to translation, the man filming told her: “We support the activists.”

She told him, “I’d like to ask your opinion. If I could just say two words”, before holding up a sign that literally read “two words”. It is believed her sign referred to the two Russian words, het bonhe, that translate to "no to war".

The woman asked the man, “Am I gonna get arrested for this or not?”. At that point, the man replied, “You're already being detained” as armored Russian officers came rushing in to detain the woman and walk her over to one of four parked vans.

Captioning the post, Activatica wrote: “Two words - and you're in a paddy wagon: how many seconds do you need to be detained on Manezhnaya Square. Spoiler: one and a half.”

The man filming then began talking to another woman who asked him if he was only filming “the opposition”. He clarified that he was filming everyone, regardless of their opinion.

The woman asked, “And those who don't go to protests and believe that the military operation of our country… is that what you’re filming?”

The man reassured her that they were showing “all the views” and the woman then said she wanted to give her opinion.

She began saying: “I’m comfortable with the fact that…”

Before she could finish, an armored Russian officer grabbed her and said “let’s go” before more officers arrived and began to lead her towards the same van the previous woman was placed in.

The camera person continued filming and said: “This is shocking content. She’s come to say she’s fine with it… it didn't even take a few seconds.”

As Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine and its citizens, the clip has been shared widely on social media to demonstrate just Russia’s intolerance of free speech and what it sees as dissent against the Kremlin.

In a Reddit post where the clip has gone viral, one person was sceptical about the validity of the video, saying it must be a “skit”.

They wrote: “Is this a skit or something? It has to be a skit…”.

But others completely believed that something so unbelievable could happen in Moscow.

One person responded: “Definitely not.”

On Twitter, someone else agreed that it’s so unbelieved that it seems unreal: “This is that ridiculous that it seems fake. Absolute madness.”

Someone else commented: “Ruthless efficiency in shutting down any comment by the people of Russia. Incredible.”

Another wrote: “The second interviewee is detained after saying she's in **favor** of the "special operation". It's prohibited to have an opinion. Any opinion.”

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