Anti-war protesters have left notes on the grave of Vladimir Putin's parents describing the Russian leader as "disgraceful".
Activists from the Party of the Dead - an art and protest group in Russia that previously described Putin's war in Ukraine as a "senseless massacre" - placed a message on the tomb reading: "Dear parents! Your son is behaving disgracefully!
"He skips history lessons, fights with classmates, threatens to blow up the whole school. Take action!"
On social media, protesters announced: "This morning an unidentified group of persons approached the parents of one boy demanding that they take educational measures against their son.
"The message was left at the Serafimov cemetery in St. Petersburg."
The group expressed the hope that the dead parents would "take him to themselves someday".
In an interview with Media.az in June, activist Maxim Evstropov said: "The Party opposes the exploitation of the dead, [and is] against attempts by the living [people] to appropriate their votes.
"Now we are focused on anti-war actions.
"What is happening in Ukraine now is an absolutely senseless massacre.
“To justify all this, the supporters of [Putin’s] so-called ‘special operation’ again shamelessly use the dead - referring to the Second World War, which for some reason they are eager to repeat.
“At the same time, the Russian invaders …. bomb cemeteries like Babi Yar in Kyiv, and the bodies of their soldiers are simply left to rot in the fields…"
The message on the tomb of Putin's parents comes as mobilisation has triggered an upsurge in protests over the war in Ukraine.
Russian men have been escaping the country over fears they will be called up and sent to Ukraine to fight.
Grisha, 24, an engineering student in St Petersburg, received basic military training as part of his course at university, and now he fears he is first in line to be drafted.
He says: "I didn't start this war. I don't want this war.
"There's no way I’m going to go and get killed [in Ukraine]. And for what?"
Olya, 23, is nervous that her boyfriend will be called up.
She says: "My godfather served in the army before as well, so he can be made to go and fight now.
"He's worried, he has a young family and a good life with them in the countryside.
"He spends his time playing with hedgehogs in the garden, not killing people.
"My dad continues to support the 'special operation' in Ukraine. I told him if he really thinks we're under attack, he should be the one to go and fight, not guys who don't want to be there."
Nearly 66,000 Russians entered the European Union, mostly via Finland and Estonia, between September 19 and 25, a 30% increase from the previous week, the bloc's border agency Frontex said.
Meanwhile, NATO said that any use of nuclear weapons by Russia is unacceptable and would have severe consequences after an ally of Putin issued another stark nuclear warning to Ukraine and the West.
"Any use of nuclear weapons is absolutely unacceptable, it will totally change the nature of the conflict, and Russia must know that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
"When we see that kind of nuclear rhetoric again and again from Russia, from President Putin, it is something that we have to take seriously - and therefore we are conveying the clear message that this will have severe consequences for Russia."
