Anti-Putin Dissenters Cry On Protest; FBK To Be Declared As Extremists

Supporters of Alexei Navalny will stage a protest on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the opposition leader’s freedom. It will be held in over 100 cities, including the Manezhnaya Square hall where President Vladimir Putin will deliver his state of the union speech.

About 500,000 people have registered online to join the ‘Free Navalny’ rally on different central squares of the country while preparing for a major backlash from the Russian government.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin plans on cracking down Navalny’s allies seeking to liquidate his political organization, as court officials are set to declare the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) as an extremist party next week.

Prior to the protest, Navalny’s allies were both detained in Moscow on Wednesday. Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s spokeswoman, and Lyubov Sobol one of the faces of Navalny's YouTube channel were arrested during the sweeping crackdown of the Kremlin.

On Friday, Navalny’s former cameraman was put behind bars after a now-deleted tweet saying Kremlin officials “don’t deserve to live.” The tweets were published after journalist, Irina Slavina, self-immolated herself in October 2020 and blamed the Russian Federation for her death.

Many of the FBK staff has gone into hiding while other members delete their data and information shared with the authorities. Some anti-Putin allies left the country to avoid prison. Among who flew abroad are protests organizer Leonid Volkov, FBK head Ivan Zhdanov and senior Navalny supporter Vladimir Milov.

However, several followers mentioned to the press said that they will not surrender to Putin regardless of what comes after the rally.

Currently, Navalny’s condition worsens due to his deteriorating kidneys. According to Dr. Yaroslav Ashikhmin via Facebook, Navalny may die in a “matter of days.”

Navalny has been on a hunger strike since March 31 after the refusal of authorities to provide medical treatment for his acute leg and back pain.

The 44-year old opposition politician survived a Novichok nerve agent poisoning incident in August 2020 where he received treatments in Germany. Navalny accused Putin of being responsible for his poisoning. However, investigations named agents from the security service responsible for Navalny’s poisoning.

Navalny’s started his movement from being a blogger to a full strategy organization, publishing corruption practices of the government, which earned the ire of the administration.

Protest organizer Volkov called for the rally on Wednesday stating that Navalny’s health is on the line, that “Alexei is facing death” in prison.