Over 284 people detained at rallies honouring Navalny in Russia
More than 284 people have been detained during rallies honouring the memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny across 31 Russian cities.
Source: Meduza, a Latvian-based Russian media outlet
Details: As of the evening of Saturday, 17 February, 143 people have been detained in St Petersburg and 49 in Moscow.
Moscow police detain people who bring flowers to the Wall of Grief, a monument to the victims of political persecution by Joseph Stalin, to honour the memory of Navalny.
People brought along posters that said "Killer" and chanted "Shame on you!" when law enforcement officers started to detain some of those who gathered.
Police detained around 15 people in 10 minutes, after which only Ministry of Internal Affairs forces and journalists remained on the square.
Another two people were detained near the Solovetsky Stone, a monument on Lubyanka Square in Moscow to the victims of political repression.
Russian police also detained several people during a rally in St Petersburg after the memorial service for Navalny held near the Solovetsky Stone. The police pushed the protesters out of the square, and at least seven people were detained.
Also in St Petersburg, law enforcement officers detained a priest of the Apostolic Orthodox Church, Grigory Mikhnov-Vaytenko, who was preparing to hold a memorial service for Navalny. Mikhnov-Vaytenko was detained on his way out of his house. The memorial service was conducted by another priest.
Protesters were also detained during rallies in memory of Navalny that were held in Novosibirsk, Samara, Tomsk, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, and Ulan-Ude.
Background:
- On the afternoon of 16 February, Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service reported the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny at Correctional Facility No. 3 in Kharp, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in northwestern Siberia.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Navalny was killed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Russian authorities have not released Navalny’s body to his family for burial, and the cause of his death remains unclear.
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