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Moscow, Russia
The lawyer and politician Lyubow Sobol, who was familiar with Navalny, was forcibly dragged away by the police in the middle of the interview.
"Fascists!"
The civil rights organization OWD documents how even children are arrested.
Scenes from the Russian capital on Saturday.
Christian Esch, DER SPIEGEL
»A lot of people came.
How many is difficult to say because the square is cordoned off and many did not even manage to get here.
What I've seen in people here are mostly young people, mostly men, but not very many minors.
That was the assumption that many minors will show up because there was a lot of coverage on TikTok about these events.
«
All over Russia this Saturday people took to the streets to demonstrate for the release of the imprisoned opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
In Siberia, thousands of people braved the cold, like here in Irkutsk: in chants they called on President Putin to resign.
Videos from the easternmost parts of the country were already shared on social media early in the morning - and commented: "Tomsk is cool too," tweeted Boris Zolotorevskij, a colleague of Navalny's.
Khabarowsk, Russia
Navalny's supporters used cell phone cameras to document the arrests, as here in Khabarovsk on the Chinese border they were everywhere in the country.
Christian Esch, DER SPIEGEL
It is a strong sign that people are taking an interest in Alexej Navalny's fate.
Navalny was arrested in Moscow last Sunday immediately after his return from Germany.
In Berlin, the 44-year-old was treated after a poison attack in August, for which the opposition blames the Kremlin.
On Monday, a Russian court rushed to sentencing him to 30 days in prison for violating suspended sentences.
He faces three and a half years in prison for this.
At the same time, Navalny managed to cause an uproar and millions of clicks with the publication of this video: recordings that are supposed to show Putin's one billion euro "secret pompous villa" on the Black Sea went around the world.
The Kremlin immediately denied that their boss owned such a villa - the Russian state media ignored the report.
Christian Esch, DER SPIEGEL
»The question now is: What does this mean for Vladimir Putin?
I think the important question that arises for him now is how does he find the right mix of repression on the one hand and permitting on the other to deal with this challenge?
And the second question, of course, is how does this wave of protests affect the Duma elections, which will take place in September?
«
The security forces in Moscow at least rigorously carried out their work order, they started arrests before the announced demonstrations.
Navalny's wife Julia is among those arrested.
She posted a photo from a police prisoner truck on Saturday.
The civil rights organization OWD estimated the number of nationwide arrests at noon at more than 800.
