Kremlin: Dissident Navalny’s Growing Anti-Putin Movement Is ‘Unacceptable’

The promotion of unauthorized rallies in support of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in recent days has been “unacceptable” and the work of “certain provocateurs,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday.

“The only appropriate stance is in favor of abiding by the law and against the organization of unauthorized activities, let alone attempts to incite young people and children to take part in them,” Peskov said when asked about the possibility of anti-government rallies in Russia on January 23.

“There are certain provocateurs who are calling for organizing this action,” he said of the planned demonstrations, which are expected to demand Navalny’s release from jail.

“The actions of the provocateurs are clear to us, they are very clear to the law enforcement bodies, and corresponding measures are taken against these provocateurs,” Peskov added.

Navalny and his supporters have called for mass protests in Russia on January 23 to demand the dissident’s release from jail after he was detained in Moscow on January 17. Russian government authorities have warned that the demonstrations are considered “illegal” as they are unauthorized by the state. The Kremlin has also opened a criminal case into the protests’ organizers, accusing Navalny’s allies of trying to illegally encourage minors to attend the rallies. Russian police on January 21 charged one of Navalny’s lawyers, Lyubov Sobol, with “calling for an unsanctioned rally in relation to a planned nationwide protest,” Sobol’s lawyer said in statements posted to social media.

Navalny, a conspicuous critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government, was jailed upon returning to his native Russia from Germany on January 17. A Moscow court ruled the next day that Navalny will remain in police custody until February 15 while authorities prepare a new trial to determine “whether he violated the terms of a controversial suspended sentence handed down in 2014 by not reporting to authorities in person while in Germany,” the Moscow Times reported.

Navalny had been convalescing in Germany for the past five months after he fell seriously ill while on a Russian domestic flight on August 20. Navalny was airlifted from Russia to Germany two days later for medical treatment, where he remained until earlier this month. Evidence suggests that Navalny ingested the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, German doctors familiar with his case have said. Navalny has since accused the Kremlin of ordering his poisoning. Putin and his government have repeatedly denied involvement in the incident.

Navalny has managed to maintain a presence on social media through his lawyers over the past week despite being jailed.

“Just in case, I am announcing that I don’t plan to either hang myself on a window grill or cut my veins or throat open with a sharpened spoon,” Navalny wrote in a statement posted to his Instagram account by his lawyers on Friday.

“I use the staircase very carefully. They measure my blood pressure every day and it’s like a cosmonaut’s so a sudden heart attack is ruled out. I know for a fact that there are many good people outside my prison and that help will come,” he added.