MOSCOW (RUSSIA) – Supporters of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was jailed, took to protests in Siberia and the Russian Far East on Sunday for a second straight weekend, even as there has been a crackdown on his allies and warnings from the police.
Rallies are also scheduled in Moscow later on Sunday, part of a campaign raise voice for the release of President Vladimir Putin, who has been his most prominent opponent.
Police have said no claim has been announced by any authority for the protests and will be split up as they were last weekend. According to OVD-Info, a protest monitoring group, said that more than 4,000 people were detained at the rallies last week.
In the far eastern city of Vladivostok, where a rally began at 0200 GMT, police restricted protesters from getting to the centre, prompting them to change their location to the waterfront and the frozen waters of the Amur Bay.
As per a video footage, protesters were seen chanting “Putin is a thief” as they linked hands and marched on the ice in temperatures of around -13 degrees Celsius (8.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
OVD-Info said police had detained 145 people, including 76 in Vladivostok, since the rallies started.
Navalny’s supporters in Moscow plan to come together at 0900 GMT near the Kremlin administration and the headquarters of the FSB, the KGB’s successor.
Authorities have closed seven metro stations in the Russian capital and have said they will restrict pedestrian movement in the area due to the protest plans. There was a heavy police presence in central Moscow early on Sunday.
Navalny, a 44-year-old opposition politician, accuses Putin of giving orders for his murder, which the Kremlin denies.
He is accused of breaching parole which he says are trumped up. A court is likely to meet next week to take into consideration about handing him a jail term of up to three and a half years.
The West has told Moscow to release Navalny and his allies have appealed to US President Joe Biden to give sanctions to 35 people who according to them are Putin’s close allies.
An online video, which was viewed over 100 million times, Navalny has levelled criticism at Putin of being the ultimate owner of a sumptuous Black Sea palace, which the Kremlin leader has denied.
On the eve of the protests, Arkady Rotenberg, a businessman and Putin’s former judo sparring partner, said he owns the property.