RU  UA  EN

Thursday, 19 December
society

In Russia, over 2,000 people were detained during mass demonstrations in support of Navalny

Over two thousand people were detained at the protests in support of Alexei Navalny, Russia's opposition leader. The protesters promised to continue holding mass demonstrations until the authorities meet all their demands, as was reported by the Kommersant website.

The total number of detainees during pro-Navalny rallies has already exceeded 2,000 people. In total, law enforcement agencies detained 2,131 people. Moscow saw the largest number of detainees, 795. At the same time, 309 people were detained in St. Petersburg and 95 in Novosibirsk, as well as 50 in Voronezh and 49 in Kazan.

Representatives of Alexei Navalny announced several protests for the next weekend. In particular, Navalny's chief-of-staff Leonid Volkov noted that protests will take place until the authorities listen to and hear the citizens. Alexei Navalny's official YouTube channel, in turn, continues to post videos with the participation of celebrities who call on Russians to take to the streets.

Alexei Navalny was detained immediately upon his arrival in Russia. He was returning from Berlin, where he was recovering after being poisoned by Novichok. Navalny's imprisonment has provoked a series of rallies, with protestors demanding that Vladimir Putin resigns and releases Alexei Navalny.

At least 110 thousand people participated in the demonstrations. The biggest rallies took place in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and St. Petersburg, with up to 40,000 people in the capital on Pushkin Square. Approximately 10-20 thousand took to the streets of St. Petersburg and 15 thousand participated in the protests in Yekaterinburg.