Thousands Arrested in Russia as Protesters Defy Putin’s Latest Crackdown on Free Speech

Risking prison sentences, residents in Russian cities across the country took to the streets over the weekend to protest Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. The remarkable show of dissent—which Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader against Putin, had called for from his prison cell—led to the arrest of 4,989 people in 69 Russian cities on Sunday, according to OVD-Info, an activist group that tracks detentions in Russia. Russia’s interior ministry said earlier on Sunday that police had arrested about 3,500 people “who took place in unauthorized public events,” which The New York Times noted is “the highest nationwide total officially reported… Read Full Article