All articles tagged with #kremlin critic
A Russian court sentenced a Kremlin critic to 11 years in prison for opposing the war in Ukraine, highlighting Moscow’s crackdown on dissent and signaling harsher penalties for anti-war voices.
The mother of late Russian activist Alexei Navalny, who died in prison, has accused authorities of pressuring her to hold a secret funeral for her son. Russian investigators had initially refused to release Navalny's body to his family and are now allegedly blackmailing them to agree to a secret funeral. Navalny's spokeswoman stated that a medical report indicated he died of "natural causes," while a Kremlin source suggested that officials are concerned about his funeral turning into a political demonstration.
Mourners in St. Petersburg paying respects to Alexei Navalny have reportedly been detained and handed military summonses, with at least six individuals receiving the papers after being released from police custody. The summonses require them to report to the enlistment office to verify their information and register for military service, with reports of coercion to sign them. This comes amid a wider crackdown on dissent following Navalny's death in a remote prison, sparking grief and anger among his supporters while President Putin has remained silent.
Lev Rubinstein, a prominent Russian poet and critic of the Kremlin, has passed away at the age of 76 after being hit by a car in Moscow. Known for his role in the Soviet underground literary scene and as a leading figure in Russian conceptualism, Rubinstein was openly hostile to Putin's government and protested against its repression and human rights violations. His unique style of "note-card poems" and performances combined absurdist comedy and improvisation, and he gained prominence after the collapse of the USSR. His tragic death comes amid an investigation into the accident, with authorities noting the driver's history of traffic violations.