Russia downplays severity of 'biggest' opposition protest demanding Alexei Navalny release

Following the arrests of thousands of protesters in Russia, the Kremlin has broken its silence on nationwide protests demanding the release of Alexei Navalny. The Russian government not only downplayed the severity of the demonstrations that were witnessed in several cities but also accused the United States of meddling in Moscow’s internal affairs. The law enforcement of Russia have arrested more than 3,000 people so far amid the protests, said the group that counts the political detentions as the police tried to disperse the unsanctioned rallies in 10 time zones across the nation in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s staunch critic, Navalny. 

Nationwide demonstrations, demanding an immediate release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, were held. The protests were organised in a range of cities across Russia when the temperatures were as low as minus-50 C, highlighting the influence Kremlin’s most prominent foe has built in the nation. Navalny's wife Yulia was also detained in Moscow. Navalny was arrested on January 17 on returning to Moscow from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he has blamed on the Kremlin but Russian authorities deny. 

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Kremlin on nationwide protests

Irked by remarks made by a human rights group and the United States that condemned the violence and detaining of demonstrators, the Kremlin press secretary, Dmitri Peskov, said: "We’re not ready for diktat, we’re not ready for boorishness, and we’re not ready for any crossing of red lines". On state television, Peskov said that Putin would be willing for a dialogue with the US President Joe Biden administration despite the disagreements but noted that both nations are presently closer to “enemies” than “partners”. In the interview, he also said that protests would play into the hands of those who do not want to stabilise Russia and that people who supported the demonstrations are less than the ones who back Putin. 

“Lots of people are going to say that many people came out to this illegal rally,” Peskov said on state television. “No. Few people came out, but many people vote for Putin. And a lot of people voted for constitutional reform” that will let Putin run for president until 2036, he continued. “If you compare the numbers, you’ll see how few people there were.”

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