After the death of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, Russia’s police are cracking down on grieving supporters. By late Friday evening, more than 100 people had been arrested at commemorative events in several Russian cities, the civil rights organization Ovd-Info said.
Arrests were reported in the capital Moscow, the Baltic Sea metropolis of St. Petersburg and six other cities, among others. People came to lay flowers in memory of Navalny, who, according to official sources, died at the age of 47 in a prison camp in Russia’s far north. According to media reports, journalists were among those arrested.
In Moscow, there was a large police presence in the city center well into the night, as a reporter from the German Press Agency reported on site. In the meantime, people had waited in a long line to place flowers at the so-called Solovetsky Stone, which is dedicated to victims of political repression. Many were allowed through to the stone, but were intimidated by police officers and constantly warned to leave the place quickly.
Especially since the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine around two years ago, Russia’s power apparatus has taken harsh and repressive action against dissidents in its own country. That’s why there are hardly any major protests anymore.
