Kremlin officials criticized the U.S. government for expressing support for protests that swept Russia in support of arrested opposition leader Alexei Navalny, accusing the United States of supporting violations of the law.
The protests, which drew tens of thousands of protesters, prompted the police to make thousands of arrests. US officials who made statements in support of the protesters and condemned the police response included the US embassy in Moscow, the State Department, Sen. Ben Sasse
Ben SasseFormer official recognizes the last days in office a ‘black eye’ for Republican senators Trump and courage The next pandemic could be cybernetic – How the Biden government can stop it MORE (R-Neb.) And Rep. Michael McCaul
Michael Thomas McCaulCheney tests Trump’s control over the post-US ambassador to Israel GOP Twitter account briefly includes West Bank, Gaza Biden asked to reverse the Pompeo-Trump movement in Houthis MORE (R-Texas), the main Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“The United States supports everyone’s right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression,” tweeted Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross. “The measures taken by the Russian authorities are suppressing those rights.”
We are watching reports of protests in 38 Russian cities, arrests of more than 350 peaceful protesters and journalists. The United States supports everyone’s right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. The measures taken by the Russian authorities are suppressing those rights.
– Rebecca Ross (@USEmbRuPress) January 23, 2021
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Russian protesters throw snowballs at the police while more than 2,000 prisoners Russia arrest hundreds of protesters demanding the release of Kremlin critic Navalny What could have been, had Trump not acted as his worst enemy MORE, said in a statement that the reactions of US officials “indirectly constitute absolute interference in our internal affairs” and are “direct support for the violation of Russian Federation law, support for unauthorized actions”, according to The Associated Press.
“[M]anyone will say that many people have come out in defense of illegal actions, ”added Peskov. “No, few people left; many people vote for Putin ”.
Navalny fell ill on a domestic flight last year and was rushed to a German hospital, which diagnosed him as having been poisoned by the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.
After his discharge from the hospital, the Russian prison agency informed him that he would be violating the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence, unless he returned to Russia immediately. Navalny returned to Moscow last weekend, five months after leaving Russia, and was arrested at the airport.
Navalny is due to attend a hearing on February 2.