Thousands arrested as protests erupt in Russia
Demonstrators swarm cities despite threat of jail
Chanting slogans against President Vladimir Putin, tens of thousands took to the streets yesterday across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin.
More than 5100 people were detained by police, according to a monitoring group, and some were beaten.
The massive protests came despite efforts by Russian authorities to stem the tide of demonstrations after tens of thousands rallied across the country last weekend in the largest, most widespread show of discontent that Russia had seen in years. Despite threats of jail terms, warnings to social media groups and tight police cordons, the protests again engulfed cities across Russia’s 11 time zones yesterday.
Navalny’s team quickly called another protest in Moscow for Wednesday, when he is set to face a court hearing that could send him to prison for years.
The 44-year-old anti-corruption investigator who is Putin’s best-known critic, was arrested on January 17 upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusations. He was arrested for allegedly violating his parole conditions by not reporting for meetings with law enforcement when he was recuperating in Germany.
The United States urged Russia to release Navalny and criticised the crackdown on protests.
“The US condemns the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by Russian authorities for a second week straight,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter.
The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected Blinken’s call as “crude interference in Russia’s internal affairs” and accused Washington of trying to destabilise the situation.
Yesterday, police detained more than 5100 people in cities nationwide, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political arrests, surpassing about 4000 detentions at the demonstrations across Russia on January 23.
In Moscow, authorities introduced unprecedented security measures in the city centre, closing subway stations near the Kremlin, cutting bus traffic and ordering restaurants and stores to stay closed.
Navalny’s team initially called for yesterday’s protest to be held on Moscow’s Lubyanka Square, home to the main headquarters of the Federal Security Service, which Navalny contends was responsible for his poisoning. Facing police cordons around the square, the protest shifted to other central squares and streets.
Police were randomly picking up people and putting them into police buses, but thousands of protesters marched across the city centre for hours, chanting “Putin, resign!” and “Putin, thief!” — a reference to an opulent Black Sea estate reportedly built for the Russian leader that was featured in a widely popular video released by Navalny’s team. Putin says neither he nor any member of his family own the estate.
At one point, crowds of demonstrators walked towards the Matrosskaya Tishina prison where Navalny is being held. They were met by phalanxes of riot police who pushed the march back and chased protesters through courtyards.
More than 1600 people were detained in Moscow, including Navalny’s wife, Yulia, who was released after several hours pending a court hearing on charges of taking part in an unsanctioned protest. “If we keep silent, they will come after any of us tomorrow,” she said on Instagram before turning out to protest.
Several thousand people marched across Russia’s second-largest city of St Petersburg, chanting “Down with the tsar!” and occasional scuffles erupted as some demonstrators pushed back police who tried to make detentions. More than 1100 were arrested.