Half a million protesters sweep France in major show of youth unrest
By
Joseph Ataman , Catherine Nicholls and Sana Noor Haq
2 hr ago
An elderly man uses a gas mask to protect from the smoke from tear gas during demonstration against high prices at the Place des Terreaux in Lyon, southeastern France, on Saturday, October 17, 2026. Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images
Clouds of tear gas fired by police filled the streets of Paris on Saturday, as anti-government protests stretched beyond the French capital.
Some 550,000 protesters hit the streets across France, including 110,000 in Paris, interior minister Laurent Nunez said. Organizers estimated even higher turnout. Protests also took place in Rennes, Lyon and Marseilles this weekend.
Photos emerged of people climbing atop historical statues and buildings set alight, with protesters in Lille and Marseilles reportedly breaking into government buildings as dusk fell.
Police firing tear gas during a protest in Strasbourg on Saturday Reuters
“There’s an accumulation of wealth and power that’s completely out of control,” one protester, who gave her name as Pauline, told CNN in Paris on Saturday.
“We’re also here to support the youth. There are victories, but if we look at the bigger picture, it’s not going in the right direction,” the 36-year-old added.
Another demonstrator complained of “less democracy” and a “concentration of power” under President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership. “There are billionaires who control the media,” Louise, 38, told CNN. “We are fighting to change things.”
French police detain a protester during clashes prior to the start of a demonstration in Marseille, southern France, on Saturday, October 17, 2026. Thibaud Moritz/AFP/Getty Images
This weekend’s massive protests follow sweeping student-led rallies that gripped parts of France last month, sparking a broader, multi-coalition movement against crumbling schools, the spiking cost of living, and perceived government inaction. The rallies have become emblematic of long-simmering, intergenerational anger among people who say their calls for social and political change are going unmet by negligent governments.
Smoke and fire on the streets of Paris on Saturday M6
As night fell in Paris, groups of young people looted and started fires as the protest ended, prompting police to respond with tear gas and baton charges in the narrow streets.
This photograph shows a fire destroying the city hall in Limoges, central France, after a group of people forced entry into the building during protest on Saturday, October 17, 2026.
This photograph shows a fire destroying the city hall in Limoges, central France, after a group of people forced entry into the building during protest on Saturday, October 17, 2026. Pascal Lachenaud/AFP/Getty Images
Macron condemned “sowers of chaos” for interfering with peaceful protest, and warned late on Saturday that “those who have broken, attacked (police) prefectures, as well as businesses, looted even our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished.”
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott on Saturday accused Turkey of “thuggish behavior” toward Greece and Cyprus, delivering unusually blunt criticism of a NATO ally during visits to both countries.
The Florida senator told The Associated Press that Turkey was “not acting like a NATO ally,” citing its airspace and maritime disputes with Greece and its continued military presence in northern Cyprus. The island has been divided since 1974.
Scott’s comments come amid renewed tensions over a planned undersea electricity link between Greece and Cyprus, with a possible extension to Israel. Turkey says it should be consulted before seabed surveys proceed.
Scott, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, held talks with Greek officials on defense and energy following a visit to Athens last week by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“You’re not acting like a NATO ally when you take F-16s and fly over somebody else’s country. You’re not much of an ally when you occupy a portion of another country’s land. And that’s what they’re doing,” Scott said of Turkey.
“So, I’m hopeful that it will change, but if you look at it, it’s thuggish behavior,” he added.
Greece and Turkey, both NATO members, have been embroiled for decades in disputes over maritime boundaries in the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean, as well as the divided island of Cyprus.
The electricity project has become the latest source of friction between Ankara and Athens.
“I think what Greece, Cyprus and Israel are doing is going to be good. It’s good for them, good for us,” Scott said. “We’re going to do everything we can to be helpful. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure Turkey does not cause problems with it.”
Scott also said the U.S.-Greek relationship would not be affected by the recent departure of Kimberly Guilfoyle as U.S. ambassador to Greece. The White House publicly called for her resignation over allegations of improper and possibly illegal conduct, which she denies.
ATINA, Yunanistan (AP) — Cumhuriyetçi ABD Senatörü Rick Scott, Cumartesi günü Türkiye'yi Yunanistan ve Kıbrıs'a karşı "kabadayıca davranış" sergilemekle suçlayarak, her iki ülkeye yaptığı ziyaretler sırasında bir NATO müttefikine yönelik alışılmadık derecede açık eleştirilerde bulundu.
Florida senatörü, Associated Press'e verdiği demeçte, Türkiye'nin Yunanistan ile hava sahası ve denizcilik anlaşmazlıklarını ve Kuzey Kıbrıs'taki devam eden askeri varlığını gerekçe göstererek, Türkiye'nin "bir NATO müttefiki gibi davranmadığını" söyledi. Ada 1974'ten beri bölünmüş durumda.
Scott'ın yorumları, Yunanistan ve Kıbrıs arasında planlanan ve İsrail'e de uzanması muhtemel bir denizaltı elektrik bağlantısı konusunda yeniden alevlenen gerilimlerin ortasında geldi. Türkiye, deniz tabanı araştırmalarına başlamadan önce kendisine danışılması gerektiğini söylüyor.
Senato Silahlı Kuvvetler ve Dış İlişkiler komitelerinin üyesi olan Scott, geçen hafta ABD Dışişleri Bakanı Marco Rubio'nun Atina ziyaretinin ardından Yunan yetkililerle savunma ve enerji konularında görüşmeler yaptı.
Scott, Türkiye hakkında şunları söyledi: “F-16’ları alıp başka bir ülkenin üzerinde uçurduğunuzda, bir NATO müttefiki gibi davranmış olmuyorsunuz. Başka bir ülkenin topraklarının bir kısmını işgal ettiğinizde de pek müttefik sayılmazsınız. İşte şu an yaptıkları tam olarak bu.”
Scott, “Durumun değişeceğini umuyorum; ancak mevcut tabloya baktığınızda, bu tam bir zorbalık” diye ekledi.
Her ikisi de NATO üyesi olan Yunanistan ve Türkiye, on yıllardır Ege Denizi ve Doğu Akdeniz’deki deniz sınırları ile bölünmüş Kıbrıs adası konusundaki anlaşmazlıklar nedeniyle karşı karşıya geliyor.
Scott, “Yunanistan, Kıbrıs ve İsrail’in attığı adımların iyi sonuçlar doğuracağını düşünüyorum. Bu hem onlar için hem de bizim için faydalı,” dedi. “Yardımcı olmak adına elimizden gelen her şeyi yapacağız. Ayrıca Türkiye’nin bu süreçte sorun çıkarmaması için de üzerimize düşeni yapacağız.”
Scott ayrıca, Kimberly Guilfoyle’un ABD’nin Yunanistan büyükelçisi görevinden yakın zamanda ayrılmasının, ABD-Yunanistan ilişkilerini etkilemeyeceğini belirtti. Beyaz Saray, uygunsuz ve muhtemelen yasa dışı davranış iddiaları nedeniyle Guilfoyle’un istifasını açıkça talep etmişti; Guilfoyle ise bu iddiaları reddediyor.
Since 2022, Russia has detained thousands of Ukrainian citizens arbitrarily. International scrutiny of this outrage has been minimal.
Since 2022, the mass imprisonment of Ukrainian non-combatants in the occupied territories has remained largely under the radar of international journalism, politics, diplomacy, and academia.
Russia’s war against Ukraine aims to recover control over the territories and populations of the former Czarist and Soviet empires. For the past 12 years, a key Kremlin goal has been the physical capture of Ukrainian citizens and their forced integration into Russian society, state, and army. Russian expansionism in Ukraine has been as much about demography as geography.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has documented “systematic human rights violations against civilians in occupied territories, including arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances and the denial of the right to a fair trial.”
Most attention has gone to Russia’s abduction of unaccompanied Ukrainian children—the subject of countless investigations, resolutions, and, recently, a cause for US First Lady Melania Trump. Far less attention goes to the fate of adult civilians in Russian captivity. Thousands of them are held in Russian facilities ranging from cellars and garages to remand centers and regular prisons, both in the occupied territories and in Russia itself.
A minority of Ukrainians under occupation, especially ethnic Russians or highly Russified Ukrainians, accepted annexation. Most, however, have been unenthusiastic about or opposed to their involuntary inclusion in Russia. The Kremlin’s main tool for securing their compliance has been the short- or long-term incarceration of thousands of ordinary citizens.
Few detainees are accused of conventional crimes—and even those cases belong in Ukrainian courts. Many prisoners had voiced disagreement with the war and were convicted under Russia’s “anti-extremist” laws, which forbid criticism or even mention of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Others engaged in non-violent resistance. Some have been arrested at random, on trumped-up charges based on false evidence and extorted confessions.
At first glance, this seems paradoxical. Moscow claims to be “reuniting” lost Russian lands and people. Why, then, would it arrest, deport, and torture their inhabitants by the thousands, risking the alienation of even loyal or neutral residents?
Part of the answer lies in pre-occupation opinion polls. From Crimea in 2014 to Zaporizhzhia in 2022, majorities in these regions did not support joining Russia. Only on the Crimean peninsula—where two centuries of Czarist and Soviet policy had turned ethnic Russians into a majority and the native Crimean Tatars into a minority comprising 10 percent of the population—did annexation initially go largely to plan. Even there, a mostly Tatar resistance persists, and Tatar civilians have been regularly detained since 2014. On the mainland, occupation had to be followed by a harsh crackdown that continues today in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
Against this background, mass detention serves three purposes.
First, it removes, isolates, and, if necessary, kills those who resist or are suspected of doing so.
Third, civilian prisoners serve as bargaining chips. The Kremlin’s credible promise to bring home any Russian agents captured in Ukraine or elsewhere—including those who committed crimes—is vital to the morale of its personnel abroad. Ukrainian civilians form a large reservoir of potential exchange objects.
A major monitoring report by the Centre for Civil Liberties, the German NGO Austausch, the Sova Expert Group, and other partners concludes that this unlawful deprivation of liberty is not incidental but systematic state policy. Russia has built a network of official and unofficial facilities where civilians are held without charge, often incommunicado, and subjected to physical and psychological torture, sensory deprivation, and sexualized violence. Three-quarters of detainees’ families do not know where their relatives are. Russia does not distinguish between civilians and prisoners of war, classifying all as “opponents of the special military operation.”
The detainees are a diverse group. A 2025 report by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights suggests Russia may, at one time or another, have detained tens or even hundreds of thousands of civilians since 2022. Many were taken from their homes in the Kyiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson regions in the invasion’s early months; some are still held without charge. They include journalists, community leaders, suspected supporters of Ukraine’s defense, people lacking Russian documents, teachers, and officials unwilling to work for the occupiers. Even three OSCE monitors have been charged with “treason.” Some 2,000 Ukrainian convicts were moved to Russia in 2022, and some were re-detained after completing their sentences.
The conditions are harsh to extreme. Over 92 percent of the 216 released civilians interviewed by the OHCHR between 2023 and 2025 gave consistent, detailed accounts of ill-treatment. Every civilian detainee or relative interviewed by Amnesty International in 2025 described treatment amounting to torture or inhumane punishment. All this violates the Geneva Conventions and the Convention Against Torture. Many prisoners come from areas long since liberated, so even the nominal grounds for internment have lapsed.
In a conventional war, releasing civilian prisoners would be routine work for the ICRC. But Russia treats Ukrainians as treacherous Russian citizens and uses them as hostages. By December 2025, Ukraine had identified 1,782 civilian prisoners by name; the ICRC could confirm the detention of only 867. Between March 2022 and May 2025, exchanges brought home just 173 civilians. Of the 120 civilians returned in the largest handover, on 23 May 2025, only one was a political prisoner; most had served sentences for ordinary crimes in Russia.
The clumsiness of these attempts shows there is no roadmap. Prisoners of war, though also often tortured, return in large numbers through exchanges. Even the deported children, whose repatriations remain few, benefit from global attention that may yet produce a partial solution.
By contrast, the roughly 16,000 adult Ukrainian civilians in Russian detention have little prospect of returning home or escaping further abuse. Despite a recent surge of NGO reports, public attention remains low. Even many who follow Ukraine closely are unaware that no established mechanism exists to free them so far.
Experts point to coordinated advocacy, effective sanctions and public accountability of Russian state organs as ways forward. Ukrainian human rights NGOs, including the Centre for Civil Liberties, recommend that Ukraine and its partners create a national register of civilian detainees with standardized counting methods; improve monitoring with open-source intelligence and artificial intelligence; document torture through Istanbul Protocol interviews; invoke the UN Convention Against Torture and, if needed, the International Court of Justice; sanction responsible Russian officials and agencies, as the European Union did in July 2026; prosecute perpetrators at home and under universal jurisdiction; and urge the ICRC to press for detainee access.
Five further steps merit consideration: more parliaments and associations should adopt resolutions demanding the release of civilian prisoners. The attention of journalists and editors should be drawn to the roughly 16,000 adult civilian detainees. The ICRC’s donor countries should encourage the Red Cross to confront Moscow publicly. Kyiv should explore reclassifying prosecuted partisans as combatants eligible for prisoner-of-war exchanges. Finally, Western countries should consider buying out select Ukrainian civilian prisoners.
About the Author: Andreas Umland
Dr. Andreas Umlandis a policy fellow at theEuropean Policy Institute in Kyiv(EPIK), an analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies in the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), and an associate professor of Political Science at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. He has previously worked at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, Harvard’s Weatherhead Center, St. Antony’s College, Oxford, Urals State University in Yekaterinburg, National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation (ІЄАС) and Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIM) in Kyiv, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, and Institute of International Relations (UMV) in Prague.
