Russia arrested opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Widespread protests reveal the cracks in Putin’s support. Joshua Tucker Alexei Navalny is surrounded by journalists inside the plane before his flight from Berlin to Moscow on Jan. 17. (Mstyslav Chernov/AP) On Jan. 17, Alexei Navalny, perhaps the best-known domestic critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, returned to Russia in dramaticfashion after recovering in Germany from what he claims was deliberate poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok, allegedly by agents of the Kremlin. Navalny was promptly arrested at the airport upon his arrival in Moscow, setting the stage for nationwide protestsacross Russia that resulted in over 3,000 arrests. The protests look likely to resumeon Sunday.
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Two crossed lines that form an X . It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a new speech on Wednesday warned about the potential for global conflict.
Putin said the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated tensions worldwide, and it could result in a fight of all against all.
The Russian leader s remarks came as he faced unrest at home and a new, more assertive US president.
Facing escalating challenges at home and abroad, Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech on Wednesday expressed alarm about the potential for a world war.
Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, and journalism’s power to drive protest
Last August, Alexei Navalny the Russian opposition leader and scourge of Vladimir Putin was poisoned, and fell into a coma. Authorities initially refused to let Navalny leave the country for treatment in order to hide evidence, his supporters surmised but friends eventually managed to get him to Germany, where he stayed for months to convalesce. Recently, he made an announcement: he was coming home. A little more than a week ago, he boarded a flight for Moscow with a bevy of eager journalists and a few bemused onlookers. The plane was scheduled to land at Vnukovo airport, where a crowd of Navalny’s supporters and yet more journalists had gathered. But at the last minute, Russian officials rerouted the flight to the nearby Sheremetyevo airport, blaming weather conditions for the switch. (“Obviously,” Anton Troianovski, Moscow correspondent for the
which is ironic because it s exactly the image the united states had a few years back here. we had a slow burning spice candle a few years back when the russian political opposition was blamed for being in cahoots with the united states and all the united states diplomats in moscow were targeted as spice. so it is it is quite like a broken mirror to watch this unfold in america four years on. well, it is very interesting. and that is for sure. alexey kovalev live from russia, thanks so much for getting up early in the morning for us. coming up, the michael flynn news could mean that donald trump s terrible horrible no good worst first 100 days ever are about to get even worse.