Russians hold anti-war rallies amid ominous threats by Putin

A man holds a poster which reads ‘No war’ as people lay flowers near where Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down in Moscow, Russia (Denis Kaminev/AP)

From Moscow to Siberia, Russian anti-war activists have taken to the streets again to protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite the arrests of hundreds of protesters each day.

Demonstrators held pickets and marched in city centres, chanting “No to war!” as President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian nuclear deterrent to be put on high alert, upping the ante in the Kremlin’s stand-off with the West and stoking fears of a nuclear war.