- A Kremlin spokesperson has accused the United States of meddling in Russian affairs as calls for the release of thousands of imprisoned Alexei Navalny supporters continue to mount
- Alexei returned to Russia last week after spending months in a Berlin hospital recovering from a poisoning which he blames on the Russian government
- He was arrested at Moscow airport upon arriving in his home country, however, sparking outrage among his supporters across Russia
- The U.S. Department of State has publically condemned Russia’s actions and demanded the release of Alexei and the Russian protesters
- However, a spokesperson for the Kremlin told Russian state-run media the U.S.’ comments were “inappropriate” and said America is interfering will Russian internal affairs
- He added, however, that President Putin would be willing to talk about the issues if the U.S. showed interest
A Kremlin spokesperson has accused the United States of meddling in Russian affairs as calls for the release of thousands of imprisoned Alexei Navalny supporters continue to mount.
Alexei, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin and political opposition leader, was arrested at Moscow airport after returning to his home country from Germany.
He had just spent months in a Berlin hospital recovering from a poisoning which he blames on the Russian government.
The recent arrest has sparked outrage across Russia, however, as supporters of Alexei and his cause protest against his imprisonment.
This lead to over 3000 Russian citizens — including Alexei’s wife — being arrested and detained by authorities over the weekend.
According to a Reuters report, roughly 40,000 people came together in central Moscow to protest against Alexei’s imprisonment — one of the biggest unauthorised rallies across the country in years.
Now, the United States has spoken out against the Russian police’s actions and what it has called “years of tightening restrictions on and repressive actions against civil society, independent media, and the political opposition” in Russia.
“The United States strongly condemns the use of harsh tactics against protesters and journalists this weekend in cities throughout Russia,” Ned Price, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, said.
“Continued efforts to suppress Russians’ rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, and the crackdown on protests that followed are troubling indications of further restrictions on civil society and fundamental freedoms,” he said.
“We call on Russian authorities to release all those detained for exercising their universal rights and for the immediate and unconditional release of Alexei Navalny.”
The Department of State also urged Russia to fully cooperate with an investigation into the poisoning of Alexei. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow had issued a “Demonstration Alert” prior to the protests, urging U.S. citizens to avoid the gatherings altogether.
Russia’s response
While the Russian government has not released a formal response to America’s comments, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Rossiya 1 TV the U.S.’ comments are “inappropriate” on Sunday, according to Interfax news agency.
“Of course, indirectly, they are absolutely interference in our internal affairs,” Dmitry said.
“So, this is a direct support of the breach in the Russian Federation’s law.”
However, he added the President Putin would respond in kind if the U.S. administration showed willingness to talk about the issues at hand.
Still, Dmitry seemed to downplay the severity of the protests, according to the state-run TASS news agency, claiming “only a few people went out, many people voted for Putin”.
Russian authorities are yet to respond to the calls to release protesters and Alexei from detainment.