Russians vote on Sunday in the final stretch of a three-day parliamentary election that the ruling party is expected to win after a sweeping crackdown that crushed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's movement and barred opponents from the ballot.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their sharply different views of Russia’s treatment of imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, democratic values and other major topics of dispute Friday but vowed to maintain a dialogue.
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been moved to a sick ward with symptoms of a respiratory illness and has been tested for the coronavirus, the Izvestia newspaper reported on Monday, after he said he had a high temperature and cough.
The United States is expected to impose sanctions to punish Russia for the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny as early as Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter said.
A Russian court jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Tuesday, ignoring the West in a ruling the opposition politician blamed on President Vladimir Putin’s personal hatred and fear of him.
Supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny were set to stage fresh protests in Moscow and across Russia on Sunday for a second straight weekend despite a sweeping crackdown on his allies and the near-certainty of a confrontation with police.
A Russian court ordered on Friday that the brother and several allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny be put under house arrest while Moscow police said they would close metro stations and streets near the Kremlin ahead of planned protests.
Police detained prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on arrival in Moscow on Sunday after he flew home to Russia from Germany for the first time since he was poisoned last summer, triggering a political clash with the West.
Russia’s prison service on Monday gave Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny a last-minute ultimatum: Fly back from Germany at once and report at a Moscow office early on Tuesday morning, or be jailed if you return after that deadline.
A plane carrying a prominent Russian politician who is in a coma after a suspected poisoning has left the Siberian city of Omsk for Germany, according to his spokeswoman.
