Protests are taking place across Russia today, calling for Navalny’s release.

This is Vladivostok, in the country’s Far East

Police are dispersing the crowds with batons https://twitter.com/znak_com/status/1352877638679990272?s=21 https://twitter.com/znak_com/status/1352877638679990272

Some 65 cities are staging protests today, and most appear to be gathering several hundred people.

Turnout in Moscow later today will be crucial for Navalny’s movement.

This is Barnaul (videos via Telegram)

Krasnoyarsk, where riot police are preparing to disperse the crowd after loudspeaker warnings.

Cities throughout Russia have in recent days seen detentions of activists, political lectures in schools & workplaces, & written warnings about the repercussions of attending protests

Ulan-Ude in east Siberia.

The crowds aren’t huge but it’s telling that places like these very rarely see any public dissent whatsoever, let alone street protests punishable by fines & possible jail-time

The Navalny rally in Yakutsk, Siberia, where it’s -50 centigrade

Tomsk, the city where Navalny was poisoned.

The Putin critic returned to Russia on January 17 after five months recovering from the poisoning in Germany. He was arrested at the border.

“Break the system!” chants the crowd in Irkutsk, Siberia.

Some parts of Russia’s major cities look like Minsk, which became almost a militarised fortress during the peak of protests again Lukashenko.

@meduzaproject shares this photo of what look like armored personnel carriers traveling into Moscow

Another video from Irkutsk.

“We will not leave!” they chant.

Will be tough for police to disperse this crowd without very ugly scenes.

“We are in power here!” chants the crowd in Omsk, Siberia.

This is the city where Navalny’s plane made an emergency landing on August 20, and from which he was flown for treatment to Germany after Russian authorities stalled for two days.

Riot police in some cities have blocked entrances to the subway, apparently to limit access to protest sites.

This is Novosibirsk, via @teamnavalny_nsk

There’s solidarity among Russia’s protesters with #Belarus, which has seen protests every weekend since August, & a brutal police crackdown.

People in Irkutsk are chanting in the Belarusian language: “Long live Belarus!”

Serious clashes in Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East, where protesters are fighting off riot police trying to arrest them.

Protests are happening even in remote Khakassia, near Mongolia, where people are walking through the streets chanting “Putin’s a thief!”

The last time Russia saw protests of this geographic scale was March 2017, incited by another corruption investigation by Navalny

It’s the same anti-Putin chant in Novokuznetsk, also in Siberia.

Many protesters are covering up their faces in an effort to prevent authorities from identifying and punishing them for joining illegal rallies.

For more on the sweeping crackdown ahead of today’s protests and the stakes for Russia’s opposition movement: https://www.rferl.org/a/protests-russia-navalny-tiktok/31063626.html

Brave people in Kemerovo holding a Putin sign reading:

“I have a palace worth $1 bln. My citizens have no right to freedom.”

(Actually Navalny claims the palace is worth $1.36 billion)

Amazing. This is the center of the cosy university town of Tomsk, where a long line of people is marching & chanting “Putin’s a thief!”

Really reminiscent of scenes in Belarus this summer - though Russia’s scale is incomparable

Dozens of activists, lawyers, journalists & even members of pro-Navalny social media groups were visited by police across Russia in recent days for so-called “prophylactic conversations” about the illegality of protest. Despite that, turnout is impressive https://twitter.com/SobolLubov/status/1352196356715278336

Looks like a really big protest in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city.

Ufa, population 1 million.

This won’t topple the government but having tens of thousands of Russians chanting “Putin’s a thief!” must have the Kremlin rattled.

A huge crowd in Perm, despite the bitter cold.

“Putin’s a thief!” seems to be the unifying chant of Russia’s protesters today.

Protesters in Yekaterinburg are now pelting riot police with snowballs.

This is Russia’s fourth-largest city.

Serious clashes continue in Yekaterinburg, where police are also reportedly being targeted with smoke grenades.

Protesters in Ulan-Ude have surrounded the police station and are demanding the release of arrested activists.

One Telegram channel reports that some have indeed been let go. https://t.me/avtozaklive/8721

Clashes also taking place in Chelyabinsk, in the Urals, with at least a dozen arrests reported

A scene typical of major Russian cities today.

This is Yekaterinburg, where around 3,000 protesters were given 10 minutes to leave the city center amid clashes with police

“Down with the tsar!”

The protest now under way in St Petersburg.

Russian riot police are equipped with body armor, shields and batons.

Russian protesters are equipped with... snow.

Clashes now in Ulyanovsk, the hometown of Lenin

A crowd of protesters is outside the regional administration in Krasnodar, calling on the governor to come out

Protesters in St Petersburg are breaking through police cordons. It’s getting rather ugly in several Russian cities.

Not clear if this man is a provocateur or just an angry protester, but scenes like this won’t help Russia’s protest movement

Russia’s westernmost region, Kaliningrad, is now out protesting.

Looks like a modest crowd under heavy rain https://twitter.com/teamnavalny_kld/status/1352967020162256899?s=21 https://twitter.com/teamnavalny_kld/status/1352967020162256899

The number of protesters arrested across Russia today. And the rallies are still going on.

As the protests across Russia wind up, Navalny allies call for a new round of rallies next weekend.

The opposition really threw down the gauntlet to the Kremlin today - coming days & weeks will be very tense https://twitter.com/fbkinfo/status/1353008142112665602?s=21 https://twitter.com/fbkinfo/status/1353008142112665602

In the meantime, the Navalny video about ‘Putin’s Palace’ which fuelled today’s protests has hit a staggering 70 million views