More than 30 Russian city officials have risked prison sentences to call for the resignation of Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The petition, signed by dozens of officials after it was posted by Xenia Torstrem, a municipal deputy in St. Petersburg’s Semyonovsky District, condemned Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which has lasted for nearly seven months.
“We, the municipal deputies of Russia, believe that the actions of President Vladimir Putin harm the future of Russia and its citizens,” a translation of the petition reads. “We demand the resignation of Vladimir Putin from the post of President of the Russian Federation!”
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The petition was mostly signed by municipal deputies in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but city officials from Samara and Yakutsk, among others, have also signed the petition. Approximately 84 additional signatures have been added to the petition, though they are still being verified, according to Torstrem.
The petition, a rare criticism of Russia’s leader, placed the deputies at risk of jail time due to a law that criminalizes the publication of “fake news” regarding the invasion. Offenders face up to 15 years in prison. Putin is notorious for shutting down his opposition, such as the trial of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony earlier this year.
Calls for Putin’s resignation emerged last week when Dmitry Palyuga, a deputy from St. Petersburg’s Smolninskoye District, called on the Kremlin’s State Duma to try Putin on charges of treason over the invasion. Palyuga was arrested last week as a result, but he has since been released, according to the Moscow Times.
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Russia held an election over the weekend, which is its first since the start of the war. While the election saw sweeping victories for the Kremlin, opponents have alleged fraud and vote-rigging, according to a report from the Golos movement.
