The Mothers' March is coming to Moscow, plus a flashmob is headed for Yekaterinburg

Activists in Yekaterinburg are calling for a flashmob in support of Anna Pavlikova and Maria Dubovik, two of the teenagers arrested in March for allegedly belonging to the “Novoe Velichie” (New Greatness) extremist movement. Organizers are asking supporters to photograph themselves holding children’s toys and share the pictures on social media.

The demonstration is scheduled for August 15, timed to coincide with an unpermitted “Mothers’ March” planned in Moscow, where activists will protest Pavlikova and Dubovik’s pretrial incarceration. Pavlikova’s lawyer warns that the march could hurt his client’s case, but her sister and mother are supporting the demonstration.

Pavlikova and Dubovik’s mothers previously published a video appeal to Vladimir Putin, demanding that he order their daughters’ release and punish the officers who “framed” them. The mothers also accuse the police of fabricating evidence against their children. “Do you really have no other enemies than my daughter?” Pavlikova’s mother asks in the video. According to the websites OVD-Info and Medizazona, police had at least one officer embedded undercover in the movement.

Since being jailed, Pavlikova and Dubovik have reportedly become seriously ill, leading Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova and Presidential Human Rights Council Chairman Mikhail Fedotov to call for their release, though a court recently ignored these requests.