Kremlin accuses US of meddling; 3,500 held

MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Sunday accused the United States of interfering in Russia’s domestic affairs and downplayed the scale of the weekend’s protests, when tens of thousands rallied in support of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

More than 3,500 demonstrators were detained in protests across the country on Saturday, with several injured in clashes with police in Moscow, following Navalny’s call to rally against President Vladimir Putin’s 20-year rule.

The West has widely condemned the “harsh tactics” used against demonstrators, with French Foreign Minister Jean-yves Le Drian saying Sunday the mass arrests of protesters was “an intolerable affront” and a “slide towards authoritarianism.” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said the bloc would discuss “next steps” on Monday.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Sunday accused the US embassy of interfering in Russia’s domestic affairs ater the mission distributed a “demonstration alert” to US citizens in Russia recommending they avoid protests.

“Of course, these publications are inappropriate,” Peskov told a state TV channel. “And of course indirectly, they are absolutely an interference in our domestic affairs.” A US mission spokeswoman said US embassies and consulates around the world routinely issue safety messages to US citizens.

“This is a common, routine practice of many countries’ diplomatic missions,” she said on Sunday.

The US embassy in Moscow on Saturday said that Washington supported “the right of all people to peaceful protest, freedom of expression.” Peskov also accused protest organisers of seeking to “rock the boat” and said the number of people who had demonstrated paled in comparison to Putin supporters.

“A lot of people vote for Putin,” Peskov said, pointing to last year’s constitutional plebiscite that allowed 68-year-old Putin to remain in power until 2036.

Navalny, Putin’s most prominent critic, was arrested on returning to Moscow last weekend following months of treatment in Germany for a near-fatal poisoning with a Soviet-designed Novichok nerve agent.

He then called for Saturday’s unauthorised protests, which took on an unprecedented geographic scale, spanning more than 100 cities.

Around 20,000 people protested in Moscow and more than 10,000 in Saint Petersburg, according to estimates from AFP journalists, with rallies also held in numerous countries including France and Lithuania. Leonid Volkov, the head of Navalny’s regional network, praised the turnout.

“I am certainly proud, very impressed and inspired,” Volkov said.