Pro-Navalny protests planned
Vladimir Putin delivered a state of the nation address yesterday as Russia deals with a crisis in ties with the West and faces calls for mass protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
The longtime Russian leader’s annual speech to lawmakers and regional governors was to set the political agenda and last year saw Mr Putin lay out a plan that eventually gave him the power to stay in office until 2036.
This year’s address comes with Moscow locked in diplomatic disputes with the United States and Europe over a Russian troop build-up on Ukraine’s borders and a series of espionage scandals.
With parliamentary elections due in September, Mr Putin will be looking to shore up his public support and is likely to remain defiant with the West, as well as announcing a series of measures to boost Russia’s pandemic-hit economy.
But the speech threatens to be overshadowed by country-wide demonstrations called by Navalny’s supporters, who fear the life of Mr Putin’s bestknown critic is in grave danger.
Navalny’s team called for protests from 7pm (11am Thailand time) in cities across Russia to support the anticorruption campaigner, who launched a hunger strike three weeks ago to protest against his lack of medical treatment in prison.
Police have issued warnings against joining the rallies, saying they are illegal gatherings. They arrested thousands during anti-government demonstrations earlier this year.
Navalny was detained after he returned to Russia in January after months recovering in Germany from a near-fatal poisoning he blames on the Kremlin — an accusation the leadership rejects.
He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years on old fraud charges his supporters say were politically motivated and has been serving time in a penal colony about 100 kilometres east of Moscow.
His team this weekend announced the protests to coincide with Mr Putin’s speech, after his doctors said Navalny was suffering from a range of ailments in prison and could die at “any minute”.
The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Russia over Navalny’s poisoning, and on Monday threatened Moscow with further penalties in the event of his death.
Mr Putin was unlikely to mention the Navalny case — he refuses to say his chief critic’s name and the Kremlin continues to dismiss him as an ordinary prisoner.
But he is almost certain to touch on other sources of contention with the West, especially over Ukraine.
A Russian troop build-up on the border with Ukraine — where Kiev’s forces have been battling pro-Russia separatists since 2014 — has sparked widespread alarm and warnings from Nato.
Ties with the West have also been hit by a series of spy scandals.
Several European countries have accused Moscow of increasingly aggressive espionage tactics and expelled Russian diplomats.
Washington last week announced sanctions and the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats in retaliation for what the White House says is the Kremlin’s US election interference, a massive cyber attack and other hostile activity. Russia has vowed to respond in kind.
As tensions peaked last week, US President Joe Biden spoke to Mr Putin by phone, inviting him to hold a summit in a third country. The Kremlin has said it is considering the offer.
During his speech last year, Mr Putin set out a series of constitutional reforms that were eventually approved in a referendum and reset presidential terms so he could run twice more after the end of his current six-year term.
He has said this year’s address would focus on efforts to relaunch the Russian economy after the coronavirus pandemic and to turn around a decline in Russians’ spending power.
“We need maximum results in economic development, support for businesses and support for the people,” the Kremlin quoted Mr Putin as saying during a meeting on drafting his address.
While Mr Putin remains widely popular, his United Russia party is seen as stagnant and corrupt.