Over 400 individuals were detained across Russia at rallies held over the weekend in respect to the late opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. These figures were confirmed by both Russian human rights group OVD-Info and a report from Radio Free Europe. This follows the news that Navalny had died in an Arctic prison colony, where he was serving a 30-year sentence.
According to OVD-Info, over 133 detainees were from St Petersburg and at least 50 from Moscow. Additional arrests occurred in other places, like Stavropol and Ryazan, where approximately 19 and 11 people were detained, respectively. Navalny’s followers convened to honor him and mark his memory with floral tributes.
Navalny, widely recognised as President Vladimir Putin’s leading opponent and prominent anti-corruption activist, was announced dead on February 16 from undisclosed causes. A statement from Russia’s federal prison service noted that Navalny “felt unwell after taking a walk, and began to lose consciousness almost immediately”. Navalny’s spokesperson later claimed that he was “murdered”. These suspicions are accentuated by an incident in August 2020 when Navalny fell into a coma, suspectedly poisoned with a nerve agent. He was later arrested for violating probation after returning from Germany, where he was treated and recovering.
On hearing reports of Navalny’s death, US President Joe Biden expressed his response in a press conference. Biden described his feelings as “both not surprised and outraged”, accusing Putin of being the main culprit behind Navalny’s death, stating that “What happened to Navalny is yet more proof of Putin’s brutality”.
Regrettably, Navalny is not the first political opponent of Putin whose demise has occurred under suspicious circumstances. In 2015, Boris Nemtsov, a notable Putin critic, was killed just outside of the Kremlin. Later, in August 2023, the leader of the formidable Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a plane crash shortly after a thwarted mutiny against Moscow.
Foreign leaders have also voiced their shock and indignation. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his deep sorrow at Navalny’s death, while French President Emmanuel Macron commemorated Navalny’s memory, suggesting that this event signifies the weakening of the Kremlin. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded a “full, credible, and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Navalny’s reported death in custody”.