From Moscow to Novosibirsk, calls have been launched in more than sixty cities by Alexey Navalny's team to demand the release of the famous anti-corruption activist, who was detained until February 15 and the main opponent of Vladimir Putin.
The first demonstrations took place in the Russian Far East and in Siberia where several thousand people took to the streets, notably in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk and Chita in the face of large numbers of riot police.
In Yakutsk, south of the Polar Circle, the protesters braved the extreme cold by demonstrating in -50 ° C ...
Demonstrations are taking place across #Russia today, for the release of #Navalny.
The rally of support started in #Ekaterinburg #Russia // #Kremlin #Poutine pic.twitter.com/vGqcNSdFlH
- RUSSIA INFO 🇷🇺 (@_RUSSIA_) January 23, 2021
Some 125 protesters had already been arrested in 20 Russian cities.
Rusia: Varias personas están arrestadas, incluyendo la coordinadora de Navalny y diputada de la Duma de Tomsk, Ksenia Fadeeva
pic.twitter.com/0zjatknDKf
- 6w (@ 6w_es) January 23, 2021
In Moscow, where the mobilization of the opposition is usually the strongest, the protesters must meet in the morning on Pushkin Square and then march along a central street of the capital towards the Kremlin.
AlexeĂŻ Nalvany's wife promised on Instagram to be present in the procession.
The police strongly mobilized
Moscow police have already promised to “repress without delay” any unauthorized gathering.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, denounced the “unacceptable” demonstrations in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During previous large opposition rallies in Moscow, during the summer of 2019, thousands of arrests had taken place.
As in 2019, the Russian police arrested this week, ahead of the mobilizations, leading allies of Alexei Navalny, two of whom were sentenced to short prison terms on Friday.
In the region, several coordinators of his movement were arrested after calling for demonstrations on Saturday.
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AlexeĂŻ Navalny, 44, was arrested last Sunday, upon his return from Germany, after five months of convalescence.
At the end of August, he fell seriously ill in Siberia and was hospitalized urgently in Berlin, victim, according to him, of poisoning of the Russian secret services with a nerve agent.
Three European laboratories had also concluded with poisoning, which Moscow firmly denies, denouncing a plot.