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January 31st, 2021 
Awake Goy 
‘Hundreds arrested’ in pro-Navalny protests across Russia
Alexei Navalny’s wife has been detained along with 2,000 others as protesters across Russia demanded the release of the jailed opposition politician.
Yulia Navalnaya joined a rally in Moscow – where police sealed off pedestrian access in areas and shut down metro stations – where she counted among the 500 detained.
Rallies are being held across the country for the second weekend in a row after the opposition leader was arrested earlier this month upon his return to the capital, having spent months in Germany recovering from a poisoning.
Authorities warned rallies were not authorised and would be broken up, as they were last weekend – when more than 4,000 people were detained, according to OVD-Info, and tens of thousands took to the streets.
Demonstrations took place hundreds of miles apart, with protesters rallying in support of Mr Navalny in cities in Siberia, as well as in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Navalny arrest
Thousands have taken to the streets in Russia for the second weekend straight over the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The fierce critic of Vladimir Putin was detained by police in mid-January after returning to Moscow, five months after a near-fatal poisoning. He accuses Mr Putin of ordering his murder, which the Kremlin denies.
On his return, Mr Navalny was jailed for 30 days on the request of Russia’s prison service, which alleged he had violated the probation of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money-laundering conviction that he has rejected as political revenge.
A court is due to meet next week to consider handing him a jail term of up to three and a half years.
Here is what happened when he was arrested after landing in Moscow earlier this month:
Additional reporting by AP
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 12:45
More than 2,000 arrested – monitoring group
More than 2,100 people have now been detained in total by Russian police at unauthorised protests across the country on Sunday, according to a protest monitoring group.
OVD-Info regularly update their figure online, which is the big number in red on this website:
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 12:41
Second weekend of protests
Rallies are being held across the country for the second weekend in a row to demand the release of Alexei Navalny, the jailed opposition leader.
Tens of thousands took to the streets in dozens of cities last weekend to protest against the poisoning and imprisonment of the Kremlin critic.
Journalists and photographers were among thousands arrested nationwide, often violently, by Saturday evening, according to the OVD-Info protest monitor group.
Oliver Carroll reported on the protests last weekend:
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 12:26
Protesters take to ice
Over in Russia’s far east, protesters have shown their support for Alexei Navalny while out on ice:
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 12:15
Live footage
You can keep up to date with what is happening on the ground by watching live footage here on Independent TV:
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 12:07
Dogs, batons and police vans
This is how one message explained the presence of police vans and batons, according to our Moscow correspondent, Oliver Carroll:
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 12:03
Images: Protesters detained
Images have shown police detaining protesters from Moscow to St.Petersburg to Siberia.
Authorities warned rallies were not authorised and would be broken up – as they were last weekend.
Here are some glimpses of what is happening on the ground as protesters are met by police:
Law enforcement officers detain a participant during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Omsk, Russia
(REUTERS)
Police detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia
(AP)
Russian police officers detain protester during an unauthorized protest in support of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Moscow
(EPA)
Police detain a man during a rally in Saint Petersburg
(AFP via Getty Images)
Law enforcement officers detain a participant during a rally in Omsk
(REUTERS)
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 11:58
Navalny wife detained – allies
The opposition leader’s wife is reportedly one of the hundreds who have been detained at rallies.
Yulia Navalnaya was detained at an unauthorised protest in Moscow on Sunday, Alexei Navalny’s allies said on social media.
Yulia Navalnaya has reportedly been detained
(REUTERS)
Additional reporting by Reuters
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 11:42
1,500 detained
More than 1,500 people have been arrested across the country so far, according to a protest monitoring site.
Protesters have rallied in support of Alexei Navalny – jailed in mid-January – on Sunday for the second weekend in a row, despite a sweeping crackdown on his allies and the near-certainty of a confrontation with police.
Catch up here:
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 11:36
Hello, and welcome to our rolling coverage of protests in Russia in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Zoe Tidman31 January 2021 11:34
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