Vigils send message of love for Navalny
RUSSIAN rebels have shown their love for Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny by holding Valentine’s Day vigils.
Supporters of the opposition politician have put mass rallies on hold until the spring after police held thousands who protested against his imprisonment.
But smaller groups gathered in squares and residential courtyards, shining mobile phone torches and arranging candles in the shape of hearts.
In St Petersburg, women held aloft red roses as they formed a human chain to protest against the treatment of female activists who have been sexually humiliated in police custody.
Navalny, 44, was thrown in jail on his return to Russia after treatment in Germany for novichok poisoning that he blames on president Vladimir Putin.
But his close ally Leonid Volkov tweeted before the vigils: ‘Putin is fear. Navalny is love. That’s why we will win.’
Mr Navalny made a heart gesture from the dock when he appeared in court earlier this month. He was jailed for missing probation appointments while in Germany, in violation of a suspended sentence imposed in an embezzlement case he says was trumped up.
Mr Volkov, who is based in Lithuania, urged people to flood social media with pictures of the vigils using the hashtag #loveisstrongerthanfear in Russian.
Mr Putin has blamed the pandemic for the pro-Navalny protests. He said: ‘This defendant is being used just as people’s fatigue is emerging all over the world. Irritation has piled up.’