Over 2,300 arrested in Russia anti-mobilization protests -UN

STORY: President Vladimir Putin gave the order last week to call up hundreds of thousands of reservists in the biggest escalation yet of the seven-month Ukraine war.

The mobilization has led to the first sustained protests in Russia since the war began. All public criticism of the "special military operation" is banned.

"We call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained and for the authorities to abide by their international obligations to respect and ensure the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly,” UN human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a news briefing in Geneva.

Russia counts millions of former conscripts as official reservists. The authorities have not spelled out precisely who is due to be called up – that part of Putin's order is classified – but have said they will draft 300,000 people, mostly with recent military experience.