Protests across Russia in support of Navalny have begun

(Patria) - Protests in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny have begun across Russia as announced, and dozens of demonstrators, who were previously told that the police would not allow them to demonstrate, have already been arrested.

The protests started this morning first in Khabarovsk, a city in southeastern Russia, where demonstrators are demanding that Alexei Navalny be released from prison. Several dozen demonstrators were detained in this city shortly after the rallies began.

Marches are planned in more than 90 cities in Russia, and despite the fact that the police declared the protests illegal and warned that they would be suppressed immediately, the demonstrators decided to continue with the gatherings.

Several hundred people gathered in Vladivostok on the Square of Fighters for Soviet Power, chanting "Change" and "Freedom." Security forces have not yet taken any action in this city, but it is expected that they will.

Twitter users are writing that protests have begun, in addition to these two cities, in Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Chita, Ulan-Ude, Blagoveshchensk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur... Gatherings are also planned in Moscow, but there is no information yet about whether they have started.

Navalny was arrested immediately upon his return to Russia from treatment in Germany and sentenced to 30 days in prison, the reason for the arrest being a violation of a suspended sentence from 2014, when he was accused of fraud. Navalny says the indictment was politically motivated.

His freedom, in addition to citizens, has been demanded by the USA, the European Union, France, and Canada, and the EU has even imposed sanctions on Russia due to the arrest of the opposition leader.