Thousands of Navalny supporters rally across Russia despite fierce crackdown

Nataliya Vasilyeva
Mr Navalny and his allies had called on supporters to rally against the 'lawless' Kremlin  - Ap
Mr Navalny and his allies had called on supporters to rally against the 'lawless' Kremlin - Ap

Thousands are rallying across Russia as nationwide protests in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny continue to grow.

For the second straight weekend, Russians took to the streets on Sunday in the Far East and Siberia as Moscow geared up for the rally with a strict security lockdown.

Defying minus 20 degrees temperatures, more than 6,000 people marched across Russia’s third-largest city of Novosibirsk on Sunday, chanting “Down with the czar!” after riot police sealed off the main square.

In Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean, police pushed the crowds on the frozen Amur Bay where officers chased protesters in the snow.

More than 500 arrests were reported across the country by Sunday morning.

Police officers detain a man during the Moscow protest on Sunday  - AP
Police officers detain a man during the Moscow protest on Sunday - AP

Last Saturday saw the country’s biggest wave of public discontent with the Kremlin in a decade as more than protesters in more than 130 cities took to the streets to protest Mr Navalny’s arrest.

The politician, who earlier this month returned to Russia for the first time since he was poisoned, was jailed for 30 days for violating terms of his suspended sentence in an impromptu hearing that caused outcry even among many apolitical Russians.

Emboldened by last weekend’s strong showing, Mr Navalny’s allies called on opposition supporters to rally on Sunday on Lubyanka Square, an iconic location in central Moscow which is also home to the headquarters of the formidable FSB agency where President Vladimir Putin began his career when it was part of the KGB.

Moscow authorities mounted unprecedented security measures ahead of the rally, shutting down eight underground stations, diverting a dozen bus routes and closing off several central streets in a security lockdown not seen since violent civil disturbances in 1993.

In St Petersburg, the Ekho Moskvy radio station reported that the entire Nevsky prospekt, the city’s main street was entirely blocked and all underground stations in the centre were shut down.

The protests were also spurred by Mr Navalny’s bombshell investigation that came out the day after he was locked up.

In a sleek YouTube video, Mr Navalny exposed a billion-pound property on the Black Sea as President Putin’s secret palace financed by his friends’ slush fund.

A poll by the Public Opinion Foundation showed that Putin's level of support fell after the arrest of Mr Navalny - Bloomberg
A poll by the Public Opinion Foundation showed that Putin's level of support fell after the arrest of Mr Navalny - Bloomberg

President Putin even felt compelled to issue a denial on Monday, and Kremlin-linked media on Saturday paraded Arkady Rotenberg, President Putin’s childhood friend and juxo sparring partner, as the owner of the palace who insisted that the president has nothing to do with it despite reports of Mr Putin’s security detail and a no-fly zone.

A demonstrator with a Russian national flag takes part in an unauthorised protest - TASS
A demonstrator with a Russian national flag takes part in an unauthorised protest - TASS

Authorities earlier this week promptly began rounding up Mr Navalny’s remaining allies. Four people including his close ally Lyubov Sobol and Mr Navalny’s brother were placed under house arrest earlier this week as part of a new sweeping investigation into violating coronavirus restrictions at the rally in Moscow.

Detentions continued on Saturday when the wife of one Navalny ally was sentenced to 14 days for calling for unsanctioned rallies and the editor-in-chief of a respected news website was detained for 24 hours for allegedly taking part in an unsanctioned protest.

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