Sat 23 January 2021:
Police have clashed with protesters as series of demonstrations in support of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny begins across Russia.
The gatherings, which police have declared illegal, are the first by Navalny’s supporters since he was arrested last weekend on his return to Moscow, after spending five months in Germany recovering from novichok poisoning.
Supporters are demanding the release of Navalny. He was arrested on his return to Russia from Germany on January 17, following a near-fatal poisoning with a nerve agent.
He was handed a 30-day jail sentence for violating the terms of a suspended sentence he was given in 2014 on fraud charges. The 44-year-old says the charges are politically motivated.
Several dozen demonstrators were detained shortly after the rallies got underway, Navalny’s headquarters in Khabarovsk reported on Twitter.
‼️Площадь Ленина, 12:00. Свободу Алексею Навальному Сергею Фургалу и другим политзаключённым!
Не оставайтесь в стороне, иначе завтра мы проснёмся в стране, окончательно погрязшей в коррупции, репрессиях и политических убийствах.
Наш прямой эфир: https://t.co/w17EPlYvPc pic.twitter.com/5NcQNb7DBu
— Штаб Навального в Хабаровске (@teamnavalnykhv) January 23, 2021
Во Владивостоке против протестующих вывели ОМОН с дубинками. Люди оказывают сопротивление. #23январяЗаСвободу pic.twitter.com/YunhVvri0a
— Рустем Адагамов (@adagamov) January 23, 2021
Videos also show people being taken away from a protest in Yakutsk, where people have been gathering in -50C temperatures, and one person lying on the ground, apparently injured, in Novosibirsk.
Khabarovsk is seven hours ahead of capital city Moscow, so protests began there first.
But marches are planned in more than 90 cities throughout Russia on Saturday.
The rallies are going ahead despite police declaring them illegal and warning they would be “immediately suppressed.”
In the capital, Moscow, which usually mobilizes the largest rallies, protesters plan to meet in central Pushkin Square at 2:00 p.m. (11:00 UTC) and march towards the Kremlin.
Anger mounted against Putin this week after Navalny’s team released a documentary exposing a vast and opulent palace built by Russia’s leader on the Black Sea coast.
The programme claims the complex – 39 times larger than Monaco – cost £1bn to build and was funded through illicit money.
It is said to have a casino, an underground ice hockey complex and a vineyard.
More than 60 million people have now viewed the Russian-language video on YouTube within three days of it being published.
Navalny’s associates also urged Russians to take to the streets despite official pressure, promising financial help to protesters given fines.
In a post on Instagram, Navalny’s wife Yulia said she would join the protest in Moscow: “For myself, for him, for our children, for the values and the ideals that we share.”
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