Thousands Rally Against Detention Of Kremlin Critic Navalny
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Thousands have rallied across Russia against the detention of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny amid concerns about his health. More than 1,000 people were reportedly arrested after defying a ban on demonstrations.
Wednesday’s unauthorized protests came after the United States warned Russia of the “severe consequences” of Navalny dies in prison. He has been on a hunger strike for weeks to demand proper care.
Navalny, 44, was jailed in February and is demanding medical attention for acute back pain and leg numbness.
The largest protest was in Moscow, but others took place in major cities.
These included St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, Vladivostok in the Far East, towns in Siberia, and the central city of Vladimir, where Navalny is being held.
The protests were underway while long-time Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West not to cross a “red line” with Russia.
He said such a move would trigger an “asymmetrical, rapid and harsh” response.
The warning came in his annual state of the nation address amid heightened tension with the West over Navalny’s detention and Ukraine, where Moscow supports pro-Russian separatists.
The West also questioned Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, followed by a conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Putin said, however, that Western powers were constantly trying to “pick on” Russia.
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