‘Putin is not Russia’ – Navalny calls for daily protests

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has posted a strongly-worded series of tweets calling for daily demonstrations across Russia and beyond.

Navalny has spent a year behind bars after surviving a poison attack that he blames on the Kremlin. Last month he went on trial on fresh charges that could see his prison time extended by more than a decade.

“We – Russia – want to be a nation of peace. Alas, few people would call us that now,” he writes from the maximum-security prison east of Moscow where he is imprisoned.

But Russians should “at least not become a nation of frightened silent people” who “pretend not to notice the war”.

“It’s the third decade of the 21st Century, and we are watching news about people burning down in tanks and bombed houses,” he says. “We are watching real threats to start a nuclear war on our TVs.”

1/12 We – Russia – want to be a nation of peace. Alas, few people would call us that now.

— Alexey Navalny (@navalny) March 2, 2022