A day of mobilization was held in Russia in support of Alexeï Navalny, arrested on Sunday when he returned to Moscow.

The opponent of Vladimir Putin called for this mobilization in a video.

Numerous arrests took place, including that of Alexeï's wife, Yulia Navalnaïa.

Large demonstrations across Russia were held to protest against the imprisonment of the opponent Alexei Navalny.

The atmosphere was tense on Saturday: sporadic clashes between riot police and protesters.

More than 1,000 people were arrested even though all the demonstrations had not yet started.

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Videos relayed en masse on social networks show more or less dense but determined crowds.

South of the Arctic Circle, for example, a hundred protesters gathered in -50 degrees but were quickly arrested by the police.

Several thousand people gathered in Pushkin Square in central Moscow and in the surrounding streets.

More generally, the squares of big cities are surrounded by vans, in which the demonstrators are taken, one by one, in an almost continuous line.

Demonstrations are taking place across #Russia today, for the release of #Navalny.


In #Vladivostok, in the Far East // #Russia // # Kremlin # Poutinepic.twitter.com / H1zir3eJFC

- RUSSIA INFO (@_RUSSIA_) January 23, 2021

Opponent's wife arrested

But many still challenge the Kremlin.

They chant "Freedom to Alexei Navalny", "We will not leave" or "Putin thief".

This cry is a direct reference to the video published on Tuesday by Alexeï Navalny in which he accuses Vladimir Putin of having had an estate built on the shores of the Black Sea, estimated at more than 1 billion euros.

The survey, which accompanied the call to protest this Saturday, has been viewed more than 67 million times.

The wife of the Russian opponent, Yulia Navalnaïa announced that she had been arrested by the police.

"Excuse the poor quality [of the photo], the light is bad in the cellar van," she quipped on her Instagram page, posting a selfie taken in a police vehicle.

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