2024-02-17 20:52:06
On one side of the plaza Lubyanka, in the shadow of the old building KGB, Muscovites walk calmly illuminated by the Christmas decorations that are still there. On the other side of the central square, at the foot of the monument to the Soviet reprisals, there are no passers-by enjoying Saturday. Police buses, numerous agents and vans wait, intimidating to those who are going to approach leave flowers to remember the recently deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Already upon reaching the same square, an atmosphere of exceptionality was palpable, there were more police than usual, even in the same subway some of them were carrying batons, something totally unusual among the agents in the andenes. Although on Friday some Muscovites were able to leave the flowers with more margin, although there were arrests, the tone on Saturday was different. In videos circulating on social networks you can see how some of the agents forced detainees who were not resisting to put their faces in the snow for no apparent reason. According to the NGO OVD – declared a foreign agent by the Russian government – there are 290 detainees in different Russian cities, mainly in St. Petersburg (147) y Moscow (49).
In the same spontaneous tributes this Saturday there were barriers, police and hooded men waiting for those who dared to honor the opponent. Some of these “anonymous” remembered those seen in recent protests who dedicated themselves to questioning, following and harassing some foreign journalists, some of them even reported that they went to ask their friends about them. private homes.
Without permission to remember
The Eurasian country already woke up this Saturday seeing some agents in balaclavas They removed the offerings from the center from Moscow and other Russian cities such as Saint Petersburg. In addition to the memory of Navalni, an attempt was also made to remove from sight the tribute that exists on the Great Bridge of Moscow to Boris Nemtsov. He was murdered in 2015, a few meters from the famous Red Square and the Kremlin. This tribute has been taking place for years at the exact point where this critic of the Russian government was shot to death. Although the actual murderer was convicted, it is unknown who gave the order for him to be killed.
On the same day, in the second capital of Russia, in Saint Petersburg, the bishop of the Apostolic Orthodox Church, Grigori Mikjov-Vaitenko, was arrested. He is known in his city by refugees, he was arrested for having published on his Telegram channel that he was going to celebrate a mass in honor of the recently deceased opponent. In other countries with a community of ethnic Russians they have been able to remember Navalny, as is the case of those who live in Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia, Georgiaamong other destinations chosen by Russians to escape the current situation in their country.
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