Russian police arrested thousands over the weekend as they tried to stop protests in at least 66 cities across seven time zones, and more demonstrations will take place next weekend. What will it take for autocrat Vladimir Putin to realize that arresting Alexei Navalny was a mistake?
The Kremlin tried to assassinate Navalny twice, most recently with a Soviet nerve agent, but the opposition leader keeps coming back. Literally: he returned last week from Berlin, where he was recovering from near-fatal poisoning – only to have his plane redirected to an airport 40 kilometers from his destination so that the police could arrest him away from supporters who had gathered to greet you.
He is in detention for 30 days pending a hearing on old counterfeit charges that could send him to a penal colony for years.
But Navalny has already recorded one of his alleged killers telling the story about the attempted poisoning, and also leaked evidence about Putin’s apparent loving son. His team also released a new report on Putinite corruption on Tuesday, which has more than 70 million views on YouTube.
Most importantly, his supporters do not give up. An estimated 35,000 showed up to protest in Moscow, with more crowds as far as Vladivostock. Meanwhile, Navalny cautioned: “I don’t intend to hang myself on a window grill or cut my veins or throat with a sharp spoon.”
Putin has a tiger by the tail.
