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Topline
Valentine’s Day demonstrations in support of Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned head of the Russian opposition who was poisoned last year, looked more romantic Sunday as Russians used valentine cards, flowers and lights to draw attention to government corruption during the unauthorized protests.
A woman poses with a lighted plastic duck as people turn on lights in support of jailed opposition … [+]
Key Facts
On Sunday, Russian women in Moscow and St. Petersburg organized human chains holding flowers and handmade valentines to show solidarity with Navalny’s wife, Yulia, who herself has been detained twice during protests to free her husband, and other victims of political oppression.
Later that evening, protestors took to the streets with lights, mostly from cell phones, to stand in solidarity with Navalny and the more than 10,000 Russians detained during giant protests demanding Navalny’s freedom.
Navalny remains in prison after he was sentenced to serve out a nearly three-year sentence earlier this month when he was convicted of breaking probation terms for a 2014 fraud conviction he says was politically motivated.
During his trial, Navalny argued he couldn’t meet with his probation officer as required because he was in a coma in Germany after being poisoned by Russian security agents on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a charge the government denies.
Young people turn on the flashlights of their mobile phones in support of jailed opposition … [+]
A group in Saint Petersburg, Russia, demonstrate in support of the Navalny’s.
Navalny’s arrest on arrival back in Russia last month sparked nationwide protests that saw more than … [+]
A young man with a rose in his teeth holds his mobile phone with the flashlight on in Moscow’s … [+]
Young people dance and sing during the Moscow protests.
People in the Siberian city of Omsk make a heart with candles in a show of support for the … [+]
People wave during the Saint Petersburg protest.
Russian women holding roses and signs form a human chain using Valentine’s Day to express support … [+]
People take part in Women’s Solidarity Chain in Moscow.
A man gives flowers to protestors in Moscow on Valentine’s day.
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