Russian police on Saturday arrested hundreds of protesters who braved freezing temperatures to advocate for authorities to release top opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Over 1,300 people were arrested in the Far East and Siberia, according to the arrests-monitoring group OVD-Info, with more protesters expected to descend on Moscow, St. Petersburg and elsewhere across the western portion of Russia.
One of the largest protests took place in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, with The Associated Press estimating that thousands took to the streets there. Another 5,000 demonstrators were estimated to already be protesting in Moscow’s Pushkin Square, where clashes with police erupted.
The whole square across the street from Pushkin is packed out too. And McDonald’s is rammed with protesters eating burgers pic.twitter.com/Fa71Vl3hCz
— max seddon (@maxseddon) January 23, 2021
— max seddon (@maxseddon) January 23, 2021
Police hitting protesters with batons. A few snowballs thrown back at them. pic.twitter.com/LVWpJ45ykE
— max seddon (@maxseddon) January 23, 2021
The protests were sparked after Navalny, one of the leading opposition figures in Russia, was arrested on Jan. 17 when he returned to Russia from Germany. He had been recovering in Berlin after he was poisoned in an attack broadly believed to have been directed by the Kremlin.
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That "Putin's Palace" video was a gut-punch to the regime. I said a while back: If you want to hurt this regime, you're going have to make it personal with Putin, because it's the only thing he cares about. https://t.co/PmFMS3lFsx
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 23, 2021
Ufa, population 1 million.
This won’t topple the government but having tens of thousands of Russians chanting “Putin’s a thief!” must have the Kremlin rattled. pic.twitter.com/uBxPr3Zc17
— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) January 23, 2021
Brave people in Kemerovo holding a Putin sign reading:
“I have a palace worth $1 bln. My citizens have no right to freedom.”
(Actually Navalny claims the palace is worth $1.36 billion) pic.twitter.com/JhuiMYrOlh
— Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore) January 23, 2021
This is the main drag in St. Petersburg, again, the equivalent of 5th Ave in NYC https://t.co/N10eB8vnPe
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 23, 2021
And…@navalny’s wife, Yulia, is detained. Like Alexei, she too uses humor and wit to show her strength: “Forgive the poor photo quality, the lighting is bad in the paddy wagon.” pic.twitter.com/QdzzX5I2c7
— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) January 23, 2021
This is non-trivial and the regime isn't gonna like it, since it's happening in cities all across Russia. This isn't just Moscow. https://t.co/lptGFkRi5Y
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 23, 2021
This is commitment. https://t.co/QjLw4SQwUZ
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 23, 2021
The Russian people are furious at the corruption Navalny exposes. But as long as the West is happy to do business with Putin and his mafia, they can turn the country into a prison while still enjoying the rich life.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) January 23, 2021As I've been saying for years, this isn't a call for "foreign interference," it's the opposite. Stop interfering on behalf of a brutal dictator against his victims. Stop letting him get away with murder. Stop financing his mafia and his repression.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) January 23, 2021
An incredible scene today in Russia. A riot cop tries to arrest a woman from the sidewalk, drawing a large crowd of outraged people. Then a man steps up and volunteers to take her place, saying “If you’re just meeting your quota, take me instead.” So he does. pic.twitter.com/6euPw41b0t
— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) January 23, 2021
True, they skip the arrest and trial and just shoot you in the street or poison you in a cafe. https://t.co/ltf7Ut4cXy
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) January 24, 2021
I thought I'd seen some pretty stupid comparisons between Russia and American politics this weekend, but now that Newt has entered the chat, I am required to forgive everyone else. What an incredibly vacuous and unserious statement, even by Gingrich standards. https://t.co/ZDylqwYS0W
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 25, 2021
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