Biden, Putin Discuss Nuclear Deal, Navalny, Cyber-Espionage and US Troop Bounties
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Jan 28, 2021
Opposition leader Mr Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport earlier this month after spending five months in Germany recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on Moscow. Almost 4,000 people were reported arrested at those protests. More than a dozen criminal cases have been opened.
"But Alexei Navalny's team have released a list of names drawn up by Navalny just days before his return and arrest which included Chelsea FC's owner Roman Abramovich and Everton FC's Alisher Usmanov among those who they believe should be sanctioned".
Police also raided two offices belonging to Navalny's FBK anti-corruption organization.
Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and Putin's best-known critic, was arrested January 17 as he returned to Russian Federation from Germany, where he had spent almost five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. During the protests, which authorities say were illegal as well as in violation of coronavirus measures in the country, almost 4,000 arrests were made.
Faced with over 95 million views of Mr Navalny's YouTube investigation into the residence, President Vladimir Putin had to issue a denial on Monday, insisting that neither he, nor his family own the property whose very existence enraged millions of Russian Federation. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the searches.
Hashtags dedicated to Navalny have been trending on TikTok, where they have garnered more than 1.5 billion views after the anti-corruption crusader was jailed on his return to Russian Federation from Germany.
Searches were carried out at the homes of several other Navalny allies.
Posts promoting the rallies were viewed hundreds of millions of times on TikTok.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday to demand that the Kremlin release Alexei Navalny from jail, where he is serving a 30-day stint for alleged parole violations, which he denies.
US President Joe Biden has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call for the first time since taking office, as Biden adjusts Washington's policy in a more robust way toward Russia after his predecessor, Donald Trump refused to take on Putin directly.
The U.S. leader agreed but only after he had prepared with his staff and had a chance for phone calls with three close Western allies of the U.S. - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Navalny's arrest and the harsh police actions at the protests have brought wide criticism from the West and calls for his release.
Speaking during a debate following an urgent parliamentary question, Dame Margaret said: "The best way in which we can show our support for Alexei Navalny is not by words but by actions, not by investigations but by convictions".
