Russian police arrested thousands last weekend as they attempted to stop protests in at least 66 cities across seven time zones, with more protests to follow this weekend. What will it take for autocrat Vladimir Putin to realize that Alexei Navalny’s arrest was a mistake?
The Kremlin has attempted to kill Navalny twice, most recently with a Soviet nerve agent, but the opposition leader keeps coming back. Literally: he returned from Berlin last week, where he was recovering from the near-fatal poisoning – only to divert his plane to an airport 40 kilometers from the destination so the police could arrest him far from the supporters who had gathered to greet him.
He has been held for 30 days awaiting a hearing on old trumped-up charges that could send him to a penal colony for years.
But Navalny has already included one of his potential hitmen spilling the beans over the poisoning attempt, as well as leaked evidence about Putin’s apparent love child. His team also released a new report on Putin’s corruption on Tuesday, which has been viewed more than 70 million times on YouTube.
Most importantly, his supporters will not give up. It is estimated that 35,000 showed up to protest in Moscow, with more crowds all the way to Vladivostock. Meanwhile, Navalny warned pre-emptively, “I have no intention of hanging myself from a window grille or cutting open my veins or throat with a sharpened spoon.”
Putin has a tiger tail.
