(Bloomberg) The European Union is seeking to reboot relations with Russia after years of confrontation as President Vladimir Putin conducts a sweeping crackdown on protesters over the jailing of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief repeated demands for the release of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny at talks in Moscow overshadowed by President Vladimir Putin’s sweeping crackdown on dissent.
Photo from Shutterstock.
Free Alexei Navalny!
Свободу Алексею Навальному! You may have seen this phrase floating around coupled with pictures of protesters from all around Russia, including gatherings from Siberia’s inhospitable climates for the sake of political voice. Such political action may not seem like anything new to the typical American since the U.S. has a robust and seemingly ever-present history of political activism and protest because of the constitutional ability to speak, publish, assemble, and associate with one’s own beliefs and personal agenda. Black Lives Matter protests are continuing from 2020 well into this year, and another recent movement was #MeToo’s viral reuptake in 2017. In comparison, Russia does not have such a recent culture of protest. It was only just after the fall of the Soviet Union that the Russian Federation constitutionally permitted the right to peaceably assemble in 1993. However, it is still difficult to dema
Navalny supporters in prison after Russia protests Number 15! Who is number 15? yells a woman standing in line. Her breath steaming in the cold air. It is 10 below zero (14 degrees Fahrenheit), but if you are standing in line for hours on end it feels like at least 20 below. Dozens of people have been waiting here at the entrance to the Sakharovo correctional facility since 6:00 a.m. (0300 UTC), hoping to help friends and family stuck behind the razor wire-topped walls since being arrested over the past several days in the capital Moscow.
Relatives of imprisoned protesters wait hours in the freezing cold at a prison entrance in Sakharovo