Small signs of defiance emerge amid Putin's new crackdowns
NEW YORK >> When Alexei Navalny was arrested in January 2021, tens of thousands of Russians filled the streets in protest, demanding that the top Kremlin critic be released and chanting slogans against President Vladimir Putin. Thousands were arrested.
Since then, Putin has unleashed the harshest crackdown since the era of the Soviet Union: Navalny was imprisoned and his organization outlawed. His associates and other activists were either prosecuted, fled the country or had their hands tied by draconian new laws. Independent news outlets were blocked and social media platforms banned.
And now, Russia has sent its military into Ukraine, the largest invasion in Europe since World War II.
But while the Kremlin has worked hard to crush political dissent and opposition to the war, flickers of defiance have emerged.
Antiwar marches of protesters chanting “No to war!” occurred in Moscow, St. Petersburg and elsewhere after the Feb. 24 invasion, with more than 15,000 people detained, according to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests.
A silent demonstrator in the city of Nizhny Novgorod displayed a blank sign and was promptly detained by police.
A live evening news broadcast on Russia's state TV was interrupted March 14 by a woman who walked behind the anchor and held up a handmade poster protesting the war in English and Russian. OVD-Info identified her as Marina Ovsyannikova, an employee of the station, who was taken into custody and fined.
Navalny remained unbowed at a trial held in the penal colony where he is serving a 2 1/2-year sentence.
On Tuesday, he was convicted on fraud and contempt of court charges and given nine years — a move that was seen as an attempt to keep Putin's biggest foe behind bars for as long as possible.
The 45-year-old corruption fighter, who in
2020 survived a poisoning with a nerve agent that he blames on the Kremlin, said on Facebook in a sardonic comment that was posted by his team: “My space flight is taking a bit longer than expected.”
Navalny ally Ilya Yashin, who has vowed to remain in Russia, also spoke out against the increased jail time.
“Of course, nine years is a stiff sentence,” Yashin said on Facebook. “Rapists, thieves and murderers in Russia often get less. ... But in reality (the sentence) doesn't mean anything, because everyone understands: Alexei will spend as much time behind bars as Putin will sit in the Kremlin.”
Addressing Putin, Yashin added sarcastically, “You're quite the optimist.”