Russia Detains Over 1,000 at Protests Against Jailing of Kremlin Critic Navalny
Police detained more than 1,000 people and broke up rallies in Moscow and across Russia on Sunday as supporters of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny took to the streets to protest his jailing, despite biting cold and the…
Police detained more than 1,000 people and broke up rallies in Moscow and across Russia on Sunday as supporters of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny took to the streets to protest his jailing, despite biting cold and the threat of arrest.
The nationwide rallies follow large protests last weekend that are part of a campaign to pressure the Kremlin into freeing President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent.
The opposition politician was arrested on Jan. 17 after returning to Moscow from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia last summer. He accuses Putin of ordering his murder, which the Kremlin denies.
Police in Moscow detained at least 100 people as the rallies began under snowfall around 0900 GMT amid a huge police presence, Reuters reporters said. OVD-Info, a protest monitoring group said police had detained 1,009 people nationwide.
Yulia, a 40-year-old protester in Moscow, said she had come to the protests despite having a panic attack the night before because of worrying about repercussions for taking part.
“I understand that I live in a totally lawless state. In a police state, with no independent courts. In a country ruled by corruption. I would like to live differently,” she said.
Police have said the protests were illegal as they had not been authorised and would be broken up. Authorities have said demonstrators could spread COVID-19.
Crowds of protesters were scattered about in Moscow after the organisers twice changed the planned gathering point as police took highly unusual steps to seal off pedestrian access to areas of the capital and shut down metro stations.