By Anait Miridzhanian
GDANSK (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked female military personnel and healthcare workers in a video message on International Women’s Day, Tass news agency reported on Tuesday.
“A special word of respect to the women who are doing their duty, serving in the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces,” Putin said, as he praised them for their loyalty.
Volunteers handed out 100,000 flowers to Moscow’s female residents, including bouquets of tulips to female drivers of buses and trams, the RIA Novosti agency reported.
International Women’s Day, a public holiday in Russia, has a long tradition in eastern European countries and across the former Soviet Union, where men often mark the day by buying flowers or gifts for women.
But some women were not in the mood to celebrate almost two weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and focused instead on calling for an end to the fighting.
Maria Tunkara, who blogs about feminism and racism, posted on Instagram, “the best gift for March 8 is that we and our loved ones will no longer have to suffer because of what is happening.”
“Many of my readers have acquaintances and partners who are also now on a ‘special operation’. On both sides. And it’s scary. It shouldn’t be like this. They should all be at home,” she told her 108,000 followers on social media.
Russia describes its actions as a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and unseat leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and its Western allies call this a baseless pretext to invade a country of 44 million people.
Daria, a psychologist from Moscow, said in an interview on social media she could not celebrate while women were being detained at anti-war rallies in Russia.
Since Feb. 24, police have detained more than 13,000 people in Russia-wide protests against the invasion of Ukraine, according to the independent protest monitoring group OVD-Info.
Despite the war, Olga, 18, who lives in Russian-annexed Crimea, said she and her family would be celebrating tonight.
“I hope it will help to distract from the noise of the planes that are constantly flying over our village”, she told Reuters in a message on social media.
(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
