At least 133 people were killed and more than 140 injured when gunmen attacked a packed concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow on March 22, Russia says.
A large fire engulfed the roof of Moscow’s Crocus City Hall and dramatic video shows panicked concertgoers taking cover as shots and explosions ring out.
President Vladimir Putin says all four gunmen have been arrested, and that the suspects were trying to flee to Ukraine – Kyiv says allegations of Ukrainian involvement are “absurd”.
Vladimir Putin calls the attack a “barbaric terrorist act” and announces a day of national mourning for March 24.
Image source: Reuters
Muscovites are queuing to give blood for those injured and flower tributes have been placed at the scene of the attack.
The US says it’s credible that the Islamic State group (ISIS) could be behind the attack, after the group said it did it. Russia has not commented.
The Islamic State group has issued a follow-up statement offering more details about last night’s attack on a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, which the group earlier said it was behind.
The new details – published via IS group accounts on messaging app Telegram – say four attackers were involved in the deadly assault, and includes a picture claiming to show the four assailants, all masked. The update comes from the group’s news outlet Amaq, which was also the source of the initial claim.
Neither of the two IS Amaq statements indicated which of IS’s regional branches was responsible for the attack.
In terms of motive, Amaq says “the attack comes in the context of normal ongoing war between the Islamic State and [anti-Islam] countries”.
The IS mouthpiece says the attack was carried out by “fighters” who it says were armed with “machine guns, a gun, knives and incendiary bombs”, and that the attack was preceded by a “concerted” reconnaissance mission.
Russia has not yet commented on the claims but the US has said it’s credible that the Islamic State group could be behind the attack.
Thousands of Russians have defied fear to turn out to bid farewell to Alexei Navalny.
Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critic, died in jail on February 16.
Authorities had warned any protest would be illegal. But police – deployed in numbers – stood by as the crowd chanted Navalny’s name, or their opposition to the Russian president.
Supporters and relatives, as well as many foreign leaders, have blamed Vladimir Putin for his death.
Image source Wikimedia
Russian authorities deny any such accusation, saying Alexei Navalny died of natural causes. He had been serving a long sentence on trumped-up charges in a penal colony in the Arctic.
It was feared that the authorities would crack down on March 1 funeral proceedings.
A heavy police presence was visible in Maryino, the area of Moscow where the funeral was held – and where Navalny lived with his family for many years.
At one point, Navalny’s team estimated that the line of people stretched well over 0.6 miles, despite the grey winter’s day in which temperatures hovered at just above freezing.
Yet none of the policemen – many of whom were in full riot gear – intervened when expressions of support for Navalny became overtly political.
Thousands chanted out “no to war”, “Russia without Putin” and “Russia will be free” – slogans that have previously landed many Russians in jail.
The memorial service began just after 14:00 Moscow time at the Church of the Icon of Our Lady Quench My Sorrows.
It followed much uncertainty and complaints by Navalny’s team that the authorities had been making the arrangements difficult – even finding a hearse was an issue.
However, hundreds started to arrive hours before proceedings were meant to begin. They were later joined by foreign dignitaries, including the US, German and French ambassadors.
The ceremony inside the church was brief – an image on social media showed the open coffin that is commonplace in Russia, with mourners paying respects. Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila, and his father, Anatoly, were seen sitting alongside.
As the church bell tolled and Navalny’s coffin was brought outside, people tossed roses and carnations onto the hearse and cried: “We won’t forget you!”
Alexei Navalny’s widow Yulia, his children Daria, 23, and Zakhar, 15, and his brother Oleg – are all thought to be living abroad and were not present.
Yulia has recently declared she is going to continue his political work – meaning it is possibly unsafe for her to return to Russia, where Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation has been declared an extremist organisation.
She shared a poignant tribute on social media while the funeral was under way, thanking Navalny for “26 years of absolute happiness”.
“I don’t know how to live without you, but I will try to do it so you – up there – can be happy and proud of me,” she said.
Their daughter Darya also posted a message online, describing Navalny as her “hero”.
“You have always been and forever will be my example,” she wrote.
In the absence of an independent Russian media, Navalny’s team at the Anti-Corruption Foundation took it upon themselves to provide a live stream of the funeral ceremonies.
The YouTube channel from which Navalny regularly addressed his supporters broadcast scenes from his funeral. More than a quarter of a million people tuned in throughout the day.
The burial finally took place at Borisovskoye cemetery around 16:00.
Alexei Navalny’s coffin was lowered into the ground to the sound of Frank Sinatra’s My Way and to an orchestral rendition of the Terminator 2 theme song.
“Navalny thought The Terminator 2 was the best film in the whole world,” his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on social media.
Alexei Navalny’s team has confirmed the death of the Russian political activist and called for his body to be “immediately” returned to his family
Alexei Navalny, 47, who was serving a lengthy sentence inside a Siberian prison, died at 14:17 local time on February 16, according to a document given to his mother, Lyudmila.
His team has said his body is not in the morgue where officials said he was.
Kira Yarmysh, a spokesperson for the Russian activist, said Alexei Navalny’s mother and lawyer had arrived at the morgue, in Salekhard, a town near the prison he had been serving in, but it was closed.
In an update on X, formerly Twitter, Yarmysh said both of them had been “assured” his body was there by the penal colony.
But Yarmysh goes on to say: “The lawyer called the phone number which was on the door. He was told he was the seventh caller today. Alexei’s body is not in the morgue.”
Image source Wikimedia
Protests and vigils have been held near Russian embassies in many countries following the death of the outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin.
More than 100 street protesters were detained in Russian cities, reports say, as people were warned not to rally.
Police have been detaining people across Russia as they tried to lay flowers in memory of Alexei Navalny at monuments to Stalinist political repression.
The numbers are small so far, but likely to grow.
In Novosibisrk, in Siberia, the authorities cordoned off the monument where people were heading to pay their respects. They claimed there were bomb threats. Mourners stuck their flowers into snowdrifts instead, nearby.
In Vladimir Putin’s Russia, the right to public protest has been gradually, but firmly, squeezed – until it’s almost non-existent. It is illegal even to stand with a protest sign in the street without permission. The punishment is a fine or a short spell in police custody.
But if that sign expresses support for Alexei Navalny, there’s a real risk of criminal charges – for extremism.
Tributes have been pouring in from global figures, with former US President Barack Obama describing Navalny as a “fearless advocate for his beliefs” who “inspired millions”.
The G7 held a minute’s silence to pay their respects to Navalny at the Munich Security Conference today.
The leader of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the list of passengers on an aircraft that has crashed, the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya) has said.
Earlier, Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone reported that the private plane, which belonged to Prigozhin, was shot down by air defences.
Grey Zone posted later that 62-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin died “as a result of actions of traitors of Russia”.
Prigozhin led a failed mutiny against the Russian armed forces in June.
The crash comes on the same day that senior Russian general Sergei Surovikin was reportedly sacked as air force chief.
Gen Surovikin was known to have good relations with Prigozhin and had not been seen in public since the mutiny.
The aircraft was flying from Moscow to St Petersburg, with seven passengers and three crew.
It is said to have come down near the village of Kuzhenkino in Tver region, about half-way between Moscow and St Petersburg.
Grey Zone said local residents heard two bangs before the crash and saw two vapour trails.
Tass news agency said the plane, an Embraer Legacy belonging to Yevgeny Prigozhin, caught fire on hitting the ground.
The aircraft had been in the air for less than half an hour, it added.
Senior Wagner commander Dmitry Utkin was also on the passenger list, aviation officials said.
An investigation has been launched into the crash and emergency services are searching the scene.
Another news agency, Interfax, said all 10 bodies had been recovered.
Grey Zone reported that a second business jet owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin landed safely in the Moscow region.
The mercenary boss founded Wagner in 2014, and it now has about 25,000 fighters.
The group has been active in Ukraine, Syria and west Africa, and has gained a reputation for brutality.
Yevgeny Prigozhin headed the mutiny on June 23-24, moving his troops from Ukraine, seizing the southern Russian city of Rostov on Don, and threatening to march on Moscow.
The move came after months of tension with Russian military commanders over the Ukraine conflict.
The stand-off was settled by a deal which allowed Wagner troops to move to Belarus or join the Russian army.
Yevgeny Prigozhin himself agreed to relocate to Belarus but has apparently been able to move freely, making public appearances in Russia and releasing a video of him purportedly in Africa.
Italy’s ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi has died at the age of 86.
He died at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan. In April, he was treated for a lung infection linked to leukaemia.
Silvio Brlusconi overcame various scandals to hold office four times, becoming the longest-serving prime minister in post-war Italy.
After taking political office in 1994, the billionaire media tycoon led four governments until 2011 – though not consecutively.
Last September, Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia party went into coalition under right-wing PM Giorgia Meloni.
Reacting to the news, PM Meloni remembered her predecessor as a “fighter”. In a video message, she said he remained “one of the most influential men in the history of Italy”.
Her deputy Matteo Salvini said he was “broken” and thanked Berlusconi for his “friendship”, “advice” and “generosity”.
The Italian government has declared a national day of mourning for June 14, the same day Berlusconi’s funeral is scheduled to take place at Milan Cathedral.
Another figure to pay tribute was Vladimir Putin, who called Silvio Berlusconi a “true friend”. In a statement the Russian President said he had always admired Berlusconi’s “wisdom” and “ability to make balanced, far-sighted decisions”.
French President Emmanuel Macron sent his condolences to Berlusconi’s family and the Italian people on behalf of the French people.
He had repeated health problems after contracting Covid in 2020. So far, there has been no official confirmation of the precise cause of death.
Born in 1936 in Milan, Berlusconi began his career selling vacuum cleaners, before setting up a construction company.
He went on to become one of Italy’s richest men, building a business empire that included television networks, publishing companies and advertising agencies.
On top of that, he gained international recognition as owner of legendary football club AC Milan – which he saved from bankruptcy in 1986 – before going into politics in the 1990s.
Silvio Berlusconi was a polarising politician. He was praised by supporters for his business acumen and populist verve, but reviled by critics for his disregard for the rule of law.
Throughout his political career, he faced a string of legal troubles, including charges of bribery, tax fraud, and sex with an underage prostitute. He was convicted on several occasions, but avoided jail because of his age and the expiry of statutes of limitations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an accord to annex four more areas of Ukraine, after self-styled referendums condemned by Ukraine and the West as a sham.
So-called votes were held in Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, and in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south.
Photo Reuters
Vladimir Putin has delivered a major speech at the Kremlin.
A stage was set up in Moscow’s Red Square, with billboards proclaiming the four regions as part of Russia and a concert planned for the evening.
The event echoes Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, which also followed a discredited referendum and was heralded by a Kremlin signing followed by a presidential victory speech in parliament. That initial annexation has never been recognized by the vast majority of the international community, and nor will this.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the “pseudo-referendums” were worthless and did not change reality.
“The territorial integrity of Ukraine will be restored. And our reaction to recognition of the results by Russia will be very harsh.”
No independent monitoring of the Russian process took place and election officials were pictured going from door to door escorted by armed soldiers.
Separate agreements will be signed with the two Russian-backed separatist leaders from the east and the two Russian-appointed officials from the south.
As with Crimea, Russia’s two houses of parliament will formally ratify the annexation treaties next week. Vladimir Putin is expected to address to the upper house of parliament on October 4, three days before his 70th birthday.
The US has said it will impose sanctions on Russia because of the staged referendums, while EU member states are considering an eighth round of measures, including sanctions on anyone involved in the votes.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on September 29 that people in occupied regions of Ukraine had been taken from their homes and workplaces by threat and sometimes at gunpoint.
“This is the opposite of free and fair elections. And this is the opposite of peace, it is a dictated peace,” she said.
The exercise began across 15% of Ukraine on September 23 with only a few days’ notice. Russian state media argued that the use of armed guards was for security purposes, but it was clear that it had the added effect of intimidating residents.
Russia does not fully control any of the four regions it has decided to annex. Although most of Luhansk remains in Russian hands, Moscow only controls 60% of Donetsk.
Seven months after Russian forces invaded Ukraine from the north, east and south, war is still raging on front lines in all four areas. The capital of the southern region of Zaporizhzhia is firmly under the control of Ukraine’s government, and a counter-offensive is under way in Kherson.
Although Russian-appointed officials have been calling for annexation for several months, Ukraine’s series of military successes in September appear to have forced the Kremlin’s hand.
The Ukrainian army has recaptured large swathes of the north-east and on September 29 said its forces were encircling Russian troops in the strategically important city of Lyman, in Donetsk.
Last week, Vladimir Putin announced a military call-up and threatened to use all means at his disposal, including nuclear weapons, to defend what he considered Russian land. By annexing occupied areas of Ukraine, he will be able to argue that Russian territory is coming under attack from Western weapons, in the hope that some governments may halt their military aid to Kyiv.
However, Ukraine’s foreign minister has warned the sham votes will not have any influence on the battlefield.
Vladimir Putin has admitted that mistakes have been made in his drive to mobilise hundreds of thousands of Russians to bolster his troops on the front lines. Some 2,400 protesters have been arrested in dozens of cities and there has been an exodus of Russian men streaming across the border.
Kazakhstan alone reported 98,000 arrivals by September 27, and there have been long queues on the border with Georgia. From September 30, Finland has announced it will significantly restrict Russians entering for tourism or for onward travel to other EU countries.
Mikhail Gorbachev – the last Soviet leader – died on August 30 at the age of 91.
The hospital in Moscow where Mikhail Gorbachev died said he had been suffering from a long and serious illness.
In recent years, the former president’s health had been in decline and he had been in and out of hospital. In June, international media reported that he was suffering from a kidney ailment, though his cause of death has not been announced.
He will be buried in Moscow’s Novodevichy cemetery, the resting place of many prominent Russians. It is not clear whether he will receive a state funeral.
Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, and de facto leader of the country, in 1985.
Image source: Reuters
At the time, he was 54 – the youngest member of the ruling council known as the Politburo, and was seen as a breath of fresh air after several ageing leaders. His predecessor, Konstantin Chernenko, had died aged 73 after just over a year in office.
Few leaders have had such a profound effect on the global order, but Mikhail Gorbachev did not come to power seeking to end the Soviet grip over eastern Europe. Rather, he hoped to revitalise its society.
The Soviet economy had been struggling for years to keep up with the US and his policy of perestroika sought to introduce some market-like reforms to the state run system.
Internationally, Mikhail Gorbachev reached arms control deals with the US, refused to intervene when eastern European nations rose up against their Communist rulers, and ended the bloody Soviet war in Afghanistan that had raged since 1979.
Meanwhile, his policy of glasnost, or openness, allowed people to criticise the government in a way which had been previously unthinkable.
But it also unleashed nationalist sentiments in many parts of the Soviet Union which eventually undermined its stability and hastened its collapse.
In 1991, after a shambolically organised coup by communist hardliners failed, Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to dissolve the Soviet Union and left office.
Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Gorbachev had a strained relationship – their last meeting reportedly in 2006.
Most recently, Mr Gorbachev was said to have been unhappy with Vlamir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, even though he had supported the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Russian leader’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Mikhail Gorbachev had “sincerely wanted to believe that the Cold War would end, and that it would usher in a period of eternal romance between a new Soviet Union and the world, the West. This romanticism turned out to be wrong”.
Dmitry Peskov then berated Western countries that have opposed the invasion of Ukraine, imposed crippling sanctions on Russia, and provided weapons to Kyiv.
US President Joe Biden called him a “rare leader”, while UN Secretary General António Guterres said: “The world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace.”
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has described sanctions imposed by Western nations over his invasion of Ukraine as “akin to a declaration of war”.
“But thank God it has not come to that,” he added.
President Putin also warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be seen as participation in the armed conflict.
He rejected suggestions that he would introduce a state of emergency or martial law in Russia.
Vladimir Putin made the remarks while speaking to a group of women flight attendants at an Aeroflot training centre near Moscow.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion 10 days ago, the West has imposed a raft of sanctions on Russia, including the freezing of President Putin’s foreign assets and the exclusion of a number of Russian banks from the Swift international payments system.
In addition, many multinational firms have ceased operations in Russia.
On March 5, Zara, Paypal and Samsung became the latest global brands to suspend trading there.
The economic measures have already caused the rouble to plunge in value and forced the Russian central bank to double interest rates.
In his latest comments, President Putin sought to justify the war in Ukraine, repeating his assertion that he was seeking to defend Russian speaking communities there through the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of the country.
Responding to Western defence analysts’ allegations that the Russian military campaign was going less well than expected, he said: “Our army will fulfil all the tasks. I don’t doubt that at all. Everything is going to plan.”
The Russian leader added that only professional soldiers were taking part in the hostilities and there were no conscripts involved, despite reports to the contrary.
He said efforts to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be considered by Russia to be a step into the military conflict and those responsible would be treated as enemy combatants.
“The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood,” he added.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned NATO for ruling out the no-fly zone. However, Western leaders say introducing the measure would be an escalation.
Vladimir Putin also said he had no plans to declare martial law in Russia. adding that such a step would only be taken in “instances of external aggression, in defined areas of military activity”.
“But we don’t have such a situation and I hope we won’t have one,” he said.
There had been rumours that Vladimir Putin was planning to declare martial law, which is when normal civil law is suspended or the military takes control of government functions.
He said there were other special emergency states which could be used in the case of a “large-scale external threat”, but that he had no plans to introduce these either.
Meanwhile, diplomatic moves have continued on the sidelines of the conflict.
Israeli PM Naftali Bennett met Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 5 and had a three-hour discussion on the war.
Naftali Bennett then headed to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. As an Orthodox Jew, he broke Shabbat in order to travel, which is allowed under Jewish law if human life is at stake.
Although Israel is a key ally of the US, Naftali Bennett has tried to preserve a good relationship with Russia. Ukraine’s President Zelensky, who is Jewish, has called on Israel to mediate in the crisis.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has met Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, telling him he was in awe of his courage in standing up to Russia.
The two men met on the Polish-Ukraine border. Dmytro Kuleba reiterated his desire and optimism for more military backing from NATO, including a no-fly zone.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned President Joe Biden that imposing new sanctions over Ukraine could lead to a complete breakdown in relations.
In a phone call late on December 30, Vladimir Putin said such sanctions would be a “colossal mistake”.
President Biden, meanwhile, told Vladimir Putin that the US and its allies would respond decisively to any invasion of Ukraine.
The call, requested by Russia, was the pair’s second such conversation this month and lasted for almost an hour.
It marked the latest effort to defuse tensions over Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia, where Ukrainian officials say more than 100,000 Russian troops have been sent.
The build-up has prompted concern in the West, with the US threatening Vladimir Putin with sanctions “like none he’s ever seen” if Ukraine comes under attack.
Russia, however, denies it is planning to invade Ukraine and says the troops are there for exercises. It says it is entitled to move its troops freely on its own soil.
Although the two sides exchanged warnings during the call, Russian foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters shortly after that Vladimir Putin was “pleased” with the conversation. He added that it had created a “good backdrop” for future talks.
US and Russian officials are set to meet for in-person talks in Geneva next month, and the White House said President Biden urged his Russian counterpart to pursue a diplomatic solution.
In a holiday message before December 30 call, Vladimir Putin told Joe Biden he was “convinced” the pair could work together based on “mutual respect and consideration of each other’s national interests”.
His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow was “in the mood for a conversation”.
Ukraine’s defense minister told parliament at the start of December that Russia had massed tens of thousands of troops near the border, and could be gearing up for a large-scale military offensive at the end of January.
Russia has argued the military build-up at the border is a protective measure against NATO, the Western military alliance. It wants legally binding guarantees that NATO will not expand further east, and that certain weapons will not be sent to Ukraine or any neighboring countries.
The US has rejected what it styles as a Kremlin bid to control the future of independent countries.
Ukraine has not been offered NATO membership, but has close ties with the bloc.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are nothing new. In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and soon after started to back a separatist insurgency in Ukraine’s east that has seen some 14,000 people killed in periodic fighting.
Washington and its European allies have warned Russia to expect severe economic sanctions if troops do cross into Ukraine again.
Several world leaders have denied wrongdoing after featuring in the Pandora Papers, a huge leak of financial documents from offshore companies.
The 12 million files constitute the biggest such leak in history.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein are among some 35 current and former leaders linked to the files.
Both have issued statements saying they have done nothing wrong.
Jordan’s royal palace said it was “not unusual nor improper” that King Abdullah owned property abroad.
Leaked documents show King Abdullah secretly spent more than £70 million ($100 million) on a property empire in the UK and US since taking power in 1999.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov meanwhile questioned the reliability of the “unsubstantiated” information, after it detailed hidden wealth linked to President Putin and members of his inner circle.
The data was obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in Washington DC, which has been working with more than 140 media organizations on its biggest ever global investigation.
Other leaders linked to the leak include:
Czech PM Andrej Babis, who allegedly failed to declare an offshore investment company used to purchase two villas for £12 million in the south of France;
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who – along with six members of his family – has been linked to 13 offshore companies;
Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera, a billionaire businessman, who is accused of selling a copper and iron mine in an environmentally sensitive area to a childhood friend;
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, whose family and close associates have allegedly been secretly involved in property deals in the UK worth more than £400 million.
In a tweet thread, the Czech prime minister said the allegations are an attempt to influence elections scheduled for this week and insisted he has “never done anything wrong or illegal”.
president Kenyatta said the investigation “will go a long way in enhancing the financial transparency and openness that we require in Kenya and around the globe”, and promised to “respond comprehensively” to the leak once he returned from a state visit abroad.
The Pandora Papers show no evidence that the Kenyatta family stole or hid state assets in their offshore companies.
A statement from President Piñera’s office said he denied taking part in or having any information on the sale of the Dominga mining project.
The Pandora Papers is a leak of almost 12 million documents and files exposing the secret wealth and dealings of world leaders, politicians and billionaires. The data was obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington DC which has led one of the biggest ever global investigations.
More than 600 journalists from 117 countries have looked at the hidden fortunes of some of the most powerful people on the planet.
Political organizations linked to Alexei Navalny have been banned by a court in Moscow after classifying them as “extremist”.
Activists will risk prison sentences if they continue their work and anyone who publicly supports Alexei Navalny’s political network can now be barred from running for public office.
Writing on social media, Alexei Navalny promised he would “not retreat”.
However, the Kremlin critic said his supporters would now have to change how they work.
Alexei Navalny is now jailed for violating the terms of parole in an embezzlement case – charges he says are politically motivated.
Russian parliamentary elections are due to take place in September and opinion polls show the ruling party losing support. Some of Alexei Navalny’s supporters have been planning to run in the elections.
Following June 9 ruling, a court statement said Alexei Navalny’s regional network offices and his Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) had been banned with immediate effect.
Alexei Navalny’s lawyers said they would appeal against the ruling.
A message later posted on Navalny’s Instagram account said: “We’re not going anywhere. We’ll digest this, sort things out, change, and evolve. We’ll adapt. We won’t step back from our aims and ideas. This is our country and we do not have another one.”
Alexei Navalny – President Vladimir Putin’s foremost critic – was detained in January as soon as he returned to Russia from Germany. He had received treatment in Berlin for a nerve agent attack in Siberia last August that left him in a coma and fighting for his life.
He blamed President Putin directly for the attack which nearly killed him. The Kremlin denied any involvement.
The pro-Putin United Russia party, which dominates parliament, has been described by the opposition leader as “the party of crooks and thieves”, and millions of Russians have watched his videos alleging corruption in President Putin’s elite circle.
Alexei Navalny is expected to be a topic on the agenda of talks between Vladimir Putin and President Joe Biden at their first summit on June 16.
Vladimir Putin, who has been in power as either president or prime minister since 1999, recently said he hoped the Geneva meeting would improve the “extremely low level of relations” between the two countries but expected no breakthroughs.
Russian detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny has announced he is ending his hunger strike after 24 days of refusing food in jail.
Hours earlier Navalny’s private doctors had appealed to him to take food to preserve his life and health.
Alexei Navalny began refusing food on March 31 to demand better medical care.
He said he had twice been seen by civilian doctors and “given the progress and circumstances, I am ending my hunger strike”.
The process would be gradual, Navalny added in an Instagram post.
His doctors had warned at the weekend he could die “at any minute”. On April 22, they warned him that “further starvation” could significantly harm him and lead to his death.
Alexei Navalny was detained as soon as he returned to Russia in January, after receiving treatment in Berlin for a nerve-gas attack in Siberia that left him in coma and fighting for his life. Russian authorities denied being behind the attack, but last December Navalny tricked an FSB agent into revealing that a Novichok agent had been placed in his underpants.
He was sent to a penal colony in February for over two and a half years, after a court ruled he had broken the terms of a suspended jail term, even though he had been in a coma. Russia rejected a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights that he should be freed because his life was at risk.
Alexei Navalny has lost an appeal against his jailing for violating the terms of a suspended sentence.
The Russian opposition leader was detained last month after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was being treated for a near-fatal nerve agent attack.
Alexei Navalny has blamed President Vladimir Putin for the attack and says the charges against him are fabricated.
However, the Kremlin denies any involvement in his poisoning.
Alexei Navalny was accused of breaking the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement that required him to report regularly to Russian police.
In court, in a speech that referenced both the Bible and the Harry Potter series, the activist argued the charges were “absurd” as he was unable to report to the police while recovering from the nerve agent attack.
He said: “The whole world knew where I was.
“Once I’d recovered, I bought a plane ticket and came home.”
However, the judge rejected Navalny’s case and he will return to the penal colony where he is serving his time. The judge did, though, cut his six weeks off the nearly three-year sentence imposed.
Alexei Navalny faces another appearance in court on February 20, on charges of slandering a World War Two veteran who praised Vladimir Putin.
The European Court of Human Rights, of which Russia is a member, says Alexei Navalny should be released out of concern for his life. But Russia said the call was “unlawful”.
Alexei Navalny’s supporters see the charges as an attempt to silence him and thwart his political ambitions.
The activist has been a persistent thorn in the side of President Putin, making allegations of corruption including a claim the president owns a lavish palace by the Black Sea.
Navalny’s allies are seeking to challenge pro-Kremlin parties in parliamentary elections this year, and President Putin warned on February 18 against foreign interference.
European foreign ministers are set to meet on February 22 to discuss imposing further sanctions on Russia over the case.
There are divisions among EU members, with Germany going ahead with the Nord Stream 2 project which would transfer gas directly from Russia to Germany.
The Nord Stream 2 project is opposed by Poland and the Baltic states. On February 19, Lithuania said it should be paused until after September’s parliamentary elections in Russia.
Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence, a Moscow court ruled on February 2.
The prominent Putin critic has been in detention since returning to Russia last month. He had been treated in Germany for a near-fatal nerve agent attack against him in August.
Thousands of supporters have rallied across Russia in support of Alexei Navalny.
His suspended sentence for embezzlement has been converted into a jail term.
Alexei Navalny has already served a year under house arrest which will be deducted from the total.
He greeted the news with a resigned shrug. In court he called President Vladimir Putin a “poisoner”, blaming him for the attack.
Alexei Navalny’s supporters called for an immediate protest and tried to gather outside court but the whole area was overrun with riot police. More than 300 have been detained, according to monitors.
His lawyer said they would appeal against the ruling.
Strong international reaction to the sentence came quickly, with the Council of Europe – the continent’s leading human rights body – saying the judgement “defied all credibility”.
The council’s human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, said in a statement: “With this decision, the Russian authorities not only further exacerbate human rights violations as already established by the European Court of Human Rights, they also send a signal undermining the protection of the rights of all Russian citizens.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for Alexei Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release, and said he would work closely with allies to hold Russia accountable for “failing to uphold the rights of its citizens”.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded by telling Western countries to focus on their own problems.
She said on Russian TV: “You should not interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.”
Alexei Navalny has been accused of breaking the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement that required him to report regularly to Russian police. His lawyers say the accusation is absurd as the authorities knew he was recovering in Berlin from the nerve agent attack that nearly killed him in Russia.
Addressing the court before the sentencing, Alexei Navalny said the case was being used to frighten the opposition: “This is how it works: they send one to jail to intimidate millions.”
On the Novichok chemical attack, Alexei Navalny said: “Using the FSB [Federal Security Service of Russia], Putin attempted to commit murder. I’m not the only one – many know this already and many others will. And this is driving the thieving little man in the bunker crazy.
“No matter how much he tries to look like a geopolitician, he took offence at me because he will go down in history as a poisoner.”
His return to Russia on January 17 triggered mass protests in support of him, many of them young Russians who have only ever experienced President Vladimir Putin’s rule.
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack on Alexei Navalny, and rejects the conclusion by Western experts that Novichok – a Russian chemical weapon – was used.
Alexei Navalny accuses President Putin of running an administration riddled with corruption, and recently released a YouTube video featuring an opulent Black Sea palace which, he alleged, was a Russian billionaires’ gift to the president.
On January 30, Arkady Rotenberg, a billionaire businessman close to President Putin, said he owned the palace and had bought it two years ago.
On January 31, some protesters brandished gold-colored toilet brushes, a symbol of their anger about the palace. For a second weekend, crowds defied bitter cold and a massive deployment of riot police, and more than 5,000 were arrested, according to OVD-Info group.
OVD-Info says it is an independent Russian media project, which gets crowd-funding in Russia and its donors include the Memorial human rights group and the European Commission.
Alexei Navalny is already serving a 30-day sentence in connection with the embezzlement case, which he denounces as politically motivated.
In recent days police have arrested many of Navalny’s top aides, who assist him in his Anti-Corruption Network (FBK).
President Joe Biden has raised election meddling in his first call with Russian Vladimir Putin, the White House says.
The phone conversation also included a discussion about the ongoing opposition protests in Russia.
A Kremlin statement did not refer to any points of friction, saying the call was “businesslike and frank”.
Both sides reportedly agreed to extend the countries’ last remaining nuclear deal during the call.
Former President Donald Trump sometimes undercut his own administration’s tough posture on Russia and was accused by some of being too deferential to Vladimir Putin.
However, Donald Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama – under whom Joe Biden served as vice-president – was also criticized for failing to check Russia as it annexed Crimea, supported rebel forces in eastern Ukraine and backed the government of war-torn Syria.
The White House said in a statement: “President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies.”
The two presidents also discussed the massive SolarWinds cyber-attack, which has been blamed on Moscow; reports that the Kremlin placed bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan; and the poisoning of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny.
According to the Kremlin statement, the Russian president had “noted that the normalization of relations between Russia and the United States would meet the interests of both countries and – taking into account their special responsibility for maintaining security and stability in the world – of the entire international community”.
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin also discussed the New Start treaty, an Obama-era accord that limits the amounts of warheads, missiles and launchers in the two countries’ nuclear arsenals.
The treaty had been due to expire on February 5, but both sides reportedly agreed to extend the treaty during January 26 call.
The Trump administration, however, had refused to sign it and talks over an extension stalled.
On January 27, the Russian parliament ratified a five-year extension of the treaty. President Putin said the move was a “step in the right direction” to reducing global tensions.
Hundreds of protesters have been detained in Russia as police try to stop nationwide protests in support of jailed activist Alexei Navalny.
Alexei Navalny’s wife, Yulia, said she had been detained at a protest in the capital Moscow, where officers were breaking up the demonstrations.
Thousands of people have already taken part in rallies in Russia’s Far East.
Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most high-profile critic, called for protests after his arrest last weekend.
The opposition leader was detained on January 17 after he flew back to Moscow from Berlin, where he had been recovering from a near-fatal nerve agent attack in Russia last August.
On his return, Alexei Navalny was immediately taken into custody and found guilty of violating parole conditions. He says it is a trumped-up case designed to silence him, and called on his supporters to protest.
Several of Navalny’s close aides, including a spokeswoman, have also been detained in the run up to January 23 protests.
Prior to the rallies, Russian authorities had promised a tough crackdown, with police saying any unauthorized demonstrations and provocations would be “immediately suppressed”.
OVD Info, an independent NGO that monitors rallies, said that more than 800 people had been detained so far in protests across the country.
Thousands are currently attending a protest in Moscow’s central Pushkin Square, where police have erected metal barriers to deter demonstrators.
Russia’s interior ministry said 4,000 had turned up in Moscow, but opposition sources say it may be as high as 15,000.
One witness told Reuters at least 100 people may have been detained there already.
Among them is Lyubov Sobol, a prominent aide of Alexei Navalny who had already been fined for urging Russians to join the protests. Lyubov Sobol tweeted a video of police roughly pulling her away from an interview with reporters.
Yulia Navalnya also said she was being held by police at the same protest, posting an image on her Instagram account with the caption: “Apologies for the poor quality. Very bad light in the police van.”
Several of Alexei Navalny’s key aides had already been taken into police custody in the days leading up to January 23 protests, including his spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh.
Prominent Navalny activists are also being held in the cities of Krasnodar, Vladivostok and Novosibirsk.
Alexei Navalny has been detained after flying back to Russia five months after he was nearly killed by a nerve agent attack last year.
The 44-year-old Kremlin critic was seen being led away by police at passport control.
Big crowds earlier gathered at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport to greet his flight from Berlin but the plane was rerouted.
Alexei Navalny says the authorities were behind the attempt on his life, an allegation backed up by investigative journalists but denied by the Kremlin.
European Council President Charles Michel described Alexei Navalny’s detainment as “unacceptable”.
He tweeted: “I call on Russian authorities to immediately release him.”
Alexei Navalny told his supporters and the media at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport just minutes before his detention: “I know that I’m right. I fear nothing.”
His lawyer was not allowed to accompany Alexei Navalny. He kissed his wife Yulia – who had flown with him from Germany – after police officers warned they would use physical force if he disobeyed their orders.
On January 17, extra riot police were deployed and metal barriers erected inside Vnukovo airport, where the plane had been originally scheduled to land.
Russian media reported that a number of activists – including key Navalny ally Lyubov Sobol – were detained.
Alexei Navalny – who received medical treatment in Germany after his poisoning – urged supporters to meet him off the flight. Thousands of people said they would go or expressed an interest, despite forecasts of extreme cold and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The activist collapsed on an internal flight in Siberia last August, and it later emerged he had been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.
Russian authorities have consistently denied any role in the poisoning, and the Kremlin has rejected Alexei Navalny’s claims that President Vladimir Putin himself ordered it.
In a statement late on January 17, Russia’s penitentiary service said Alexei Navalny “had been wanted since December 29, 2020, for repeated violations of the probation period”.
The penitentiary service added that he would remain in custody until a court decision.
The authorities accuse Alexei Navalny of violating conditions imposed after a conviction for embezzlement, for which he received a suspended sentence. He has always said the case was politically motivated.
Separately, Russian prosecutors have launched a new criminal case against the activist on fraud charges related to transfers of money to various NGOs, including his Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Alexei Navalny has asserted that President Vladimir Putin is doing all he can to stop his opponent from coming back by fabricating new cases against him.
Kira Yarmysh also wrote: “All morning journalists have been writing to me and asking, is it true that Alexei plans to return to Russia?
“Again I can confirm to everyone: no other options were ever considered.”
The announcement came shortly after Alexei Navalny took to Instagram.
He wrote: “Hi, this is Navalny. I have been missing you. I still can’t do much, but yesterday I managed to breathe on my own for the entire day.
“Just on my own, no extra help, not even a valve in my throat. I liked it very much. It’s a remarkable process that is underestimated by many. Strongly recommended.”
There is a modest police presence outside the hospital where Alexei Navalny is being treated.
There are two armed officers by one entrance and a police van that has been stationed outside for days.
Unconfirmed reports in German media suggest two further armed police units have been set up inside – outside the ward and by Navalny’s bed.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin has ruled out a meeting between Alexei Navalny and President Putin after the opposition figure recovers.
“We do not see the need for such a meeting, so I believe that such a meeting will not take place,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency.
Alexei Navalny, 44, is an anti-corruption campaigner who has long been the most prominent face of opposition to Vladimir Putin.
His supporters believe his tea was spiked at Tomsk airport on August 20.
Alexei Navalny became ill during the flight, and the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk. Russian officials were persuaded to allow Navalny to be airlifted to Germany two days later.
A nerve agent from the Novichok group was also used to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, in England, in 2018. They both survived, but a local woman, Dawn Sturgess, died after coming into contact with the poison.
Britain accused Russia’s military intelligence of carrying out that attack. Twenty countries expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats and spies.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been moved to Germany from Siberia for medical treatment.
The prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin is in a coma after drinking what his supporters suspect was poisoned tea; they accuse the authorities of trying to conceal a crime.
Doctors treating Alexei Navalny in Omsk had insisted on August 21 that he was too ill to be moved.
However, they later said his condition was stable enough for the flight. His wife Yulia Navalnaya is traveling with him.
On August 22, Alexei Navalny’s medical evacuation flight – paid for by the German non-governmental organization Cinema for Peace – landed at Tegel airport in Berlin. He is being treated at the Charité hospital in the German capital.
The founder of the Cinema for Peace Foundation, activist and filmmaker Jaka Bizilj, told reporters outside the hospital that Alexei Navalny’s condition was “very worrying”.
“It’s not only about the question if he will survive this,” Jaka Bizilj said.
“It’s a question what kind of damage there is, if he will survive this and come back to normal fully.”
Alexei Navalny’s personal doctor, Anastasia Vasilieva, was not allowed to see him while he was in hospital in Russia. But she said she was hopeful he could recover now that he was in Germany.
She said: “I’m sure that they can treat him and do everything to eliminate this toxic agent from his body.”
Medical staff treating Alexei Navalny at the hospital in Omsk said before his flight that his life was not in immediate danger.
His spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh, earlier tweeted: “Massive thanks to everyone for their support. The struggle for Alexei’s life and health is just beginning.”
Kira Yarmysh said it was a pity that doctors had taken so long to approve his flight as the plane and the right documents had been ready since August 21.
Alexei Navalny fell ill during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on August 20, and his plane made an emergency landing in Omsk.
A photograph on social media appeared to show the Russian opposition leader drinking from a cup at a Tomsk airport cafe before the flight. His team suspects a poisonous substance was put in his tea.
Disturbing video appeared to show a stricken Alexei Navalny howling in agony on the flight.
The head doctor at the hospital where Navalny was being treated in Omsk, Alexander Murakhovsky, warned late on August 21 that doctors did not recommend flying “but his wife insists on her husband being transferred to a German clinic”.
“The patient’s condition is stable,” deputy chief doctor Anatoly Kalinichenko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
“As we’re in possession of a request from relatives to permit him to be transported somewhere, we have now taken the decision that we do not object to his transfer to another in-patient facility,” he added.
Doctors said earlier that no poison had been found in Alexei Navalny’s body, suggesting his condition might be the result of a “metabolic disorder” caused by low blood sugar.
Health officials then indicated that traces of an industrial chemical had been found on his skin and hair. The local interior ministry told the Rapsi legal news agency that the chemical was usually included in polymers to improve their elasticity, but its concentration was impossible to establish.
Alexei Navalny has consistently exposed official corruption in Russia. He has served multiple jail terms.
Foreign leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Emmanuel Macron have expressed concern for him.
In the US, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has described the incident as “unacceptable” and vowed that, if elected, he would “stand up to autocrats like Putin”.
Russia has agreed to offer security assistance to Belarus in the case of external military threats, President Alexander Lukashenko has said.
President Lukashenko also voiced concerns over NATO military exercises taking place in neighboring Poland and Lithuania.
The news comes as the embattled Belarusian president faces mass protests over the disputed August 9 election.
Thousands of Belarusians gathered outside state television on August 15, demanding full coverage of the demonstrations.
The unrest erupted after Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in last week’s election, the result of which has been condemned amid widespread allegations of vote-rigging.
The Central Election Commission says Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, won 80.1% of the vote and the main opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya 10.12%.
However, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya insists that where votes were properly counted, she won support ranging from 60% to 70%.
As the unrest continued on August 15, President Lukashenko sought help from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Lukashenko said President Putin had promised to provide what he called comprehensive assistance in the event of external military threats to Belarus.
The announcement came the day after EU foreign ministers agreed to prepare new sanctions against Belarusian officials responsible for “falsification”. The US has also condemned the election as “not free and fair”.
In a joint statement on August 15, the prime ministers of three Baltic republics – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia – “expressed deep concern at the violent crackdown… and the political repression of the opposition by the authorities”.
Latvia and Lithuania have previously said they are prepared to mediate in Belarus, provided the authorities stopped violence against protesters and formed a national council with members of civil society. They warned that the alternative was sanctions.
The Baltic leaders said the Belarusian presidential election was “neither free nor fair” and called for a “transparent” vote “with the participation of international observers”.
“The prime ministers urge the Belarusian authorities to refrain from violence against peaceful demonstrators [and to] release all political prisoners and those that have been detained,” the statement added.
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya left for Lithuania following the election after she publicly denounced the results. She had sent her children to Lithuania for safety before the vote.
Some 6,700 people were arrested in the wake of the election, and many have spoken of torture at the hands of the security services.
Amnesty International said accounts from released detainees suggested “widespread torture”.
Demonstrations have continued following Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s call for further peaceful rallies on August 14.
Some 100 staff came out of the state television building to join August 15 protests, saying they planned a strike on August 17, AFP reports. Others have signed a letter in support of a strike.
On election day, Belarusian state channels aired the voices of Lukashenko supporters and did not cover the demonstrations. State TV later showed footage of violence to blame protesters and warn people not to participate.
Several journalists have resigned over the coverage.
A “March for Freedom” is also planned in the center of Minsk on August 16, a week after the contested election.
The majority of Russian voters backed constitutional reforms that could keep President Vladimir Putin in power until 2036, election officials say.
According to electoral commission, with all the ballots counted, 77.9% voted for the reform package and 21.3% against.
The reforms will reset Vladimir Putin’s term limits to zero in 2024, allowing him to serve two more six-year terms.
Opposition figures denounced the vote, saying Vladimir Putin was aiming to be “president for life”, a claim the Russian president denies.
Vladimir Putin is already the longest-serving leader in modern Russian history since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
There was no independent scrutiny of the seven-day vote, and copies of the new constitution appeared in bookshops during the week.
By spreading out the vote, because of the coronavirus infection risk, the authorities made any monitoring of it more difficult.
Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny described the results as a “big lie” which did not reflect real public opinion in the country.
Golos, an independent Russian election monitoring group, has castigated the vote, alleging there were many violations of democracy.
Its criticisms include: opponents were barred from campaigning in the media; remote electronic voting was organized on an illegal basis; election monitors were appointed by the Civic Chamber – a government body.
Golos describes it as “just a PR exercise from the very start” and says “there was no legal need for it”. The vote “will go down in history as an attack on the sovereignty of the people”.
The reforms include a ban on same-sex marriage – by defining marriage as between a man and a woman – and introducing a reference to Russia’s ancestral “faith in God”.
According to election officials, turnout was 65%. The highest levels of support – above 90% – were in Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, in Chechnya in the North Caucasus, and Tuva, in Siberia.
Vladimir Putin, aged 67, has not said he will run again for the presidency when his latest term runs out in 2024 – but has said it is vital he has the option to do so.
He has been in power in Russia, either as president or prime minister, for 20 years.
Vladimir Putin and his supporters say the reforms – more than 200 changes – are needed to ensure national stability.
In New York, 816 voted at the Russian consulate and 505 rejected the reforms, while 310 voted for. The other voting district where a majority were against was Nenets, in Russia’s remote Arctic.
Preliminary results were released hours before the last polling stations closed at 18:00 GMT in the western enclave of Kaliningrad, in the vast country spanning 11 time zones.
Before the vote had ended, the internal affairs ministry said there had been no violations that could affect the result, Interfax reported. However, Golos said it had received some 2,100 reports of possible violations.
Several hundred opponents of the constitutional changes staged protests in Moscow and St Petersburg.
The final results show 65% voted yes to the reforms in Moscow, and 77.6% in St Petersburg.
Both Russia’s houses of parliament have already adopted the changes, but President Putin ordered a public vote in a bid to legitimize the reforms. The vote was delayed from April due to the coronavirus outbreak.
As a measure to stop the spread of the new
coronavirus, Russia is beginning what President Vladimir Putin called a
“non-working week”.
The Russian government is urging people to stay at home, though mixed
messaging has left many people confused.
According to officials, the new restrictions could be extended beyond April
5, depending on the health situation.
The number of Russians infected with Covid-19 passed 1,000 on March 27, with
most cases detected in Moscow.
Based on that figure, the Kremlin spokesman has stressed that there is
“de facto no epidemic” here, comparing Russia’s position favorably
with the crisis in Europe.
Whilst state TV’s rolling news channel has changed its name to We’re Staying Home – broadcasting from
presenters’ living rooms – many people are struggling to adjust after its
previous insistence that Covid-19 was a “foreign threat”.
When President Putin announced a
paid week off work for all, there was a rush to book holidays.
The governor of Krasnodar region,
which includes the Black Sea resort of Sochi, had to order the closure of all
shopping centers, parks and restaurants – and limit flights – after hotel
reservations sky-rocketed.
Many Moscow residents have already
headed out of town to their dachas, or summer houses.
In the Russian capital, there has
been a noticeable increase in people in facemasks on the streets since
President Putin’s national address.
Supermarket staff have begun wearing
them and there are bottles of hand sanitizer in coffee shops.
Food stores will remain open, as well as other essential services, but from this weekend cafes and restaurants can offer takeaway only.
Russia has postponed a vote on
constitutional change that would allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in
power, because of coronavirus concerns.
President Putin said the public vote
– previously due to be held on April 22 – would be delayed until a “later
date”.
The proposed changes include
scrapping a ban on allowing Vladimir Putin to run for office again.
The changes have already been
approved by parliament and Russia’s constitutional court.
They would give Vladimir Putin – who
is serving his fourth presidential term and has dominated Russian politics for
two decades – the right to serve two more consecutive terms.
Later on March 25, Russia confirmed
the deaths of two people who had been diagnosed with the new coronavirus.
According to Ria Novosti, the 88- and 73-year-olds had pre-existing conditions.
Russia has a total of 658 cases.
President Putin said: “The absolute priority for us is the
health, life and safety of people. Therefore I believe that the vote should be
postponed until a later date.”
He also announced that Russians would not work next week “to slow the
speed” of the infection.
However, the Russian leader warned that it was impossible to prevent any
spread of the virus at all in Russia because of the country’s size.
The Russian economy was also under serious pressure because of the virus, he
said.
During their week off, employees would continue to be paid and key services
would continue, Vladimir Putin said.
The president also announced extended welfare support, including for families
with children and those who had lost jobs.
Russia has already taken measures such as 14-day quarantine for people
arriving from abroad, school closures and warning for elderly people in Moscow
to self-isolate.
It has also stopped cultural and sporting events and closed gyms, theaters
and nightclubs, although cafes and restaurants have been allowed to stay open.
Russia has so far stopped short of imposing the kind of lockdown seen in
some European countries.
There have been more than 435,000 confirmed cases worldwide. Europe is now the center of the global outbreak.
Russian PM Dmitry Mevedev has announced that
his government is resigning, hours after President Vladimir Putin proposed
sweeping constitutional changes that could prolong his stay in power.
If approved by the public, the proposals would transfer power from the
presidency to parliament.
President Putin is due to step down in 2024 when his fourth term of office
comes to an end.
However, there is speculation he could seek a new role or hold on to power
behind the scenes.
President Putin put forward his plans in his annual state of the nation
address to lawmakers. Later, in an unexpected move, PM Dmitry Medvedev
announced that the government was resigning to help facilitate the changes.
Vladimir Putin said during a speech
to both chambers of parliament that there would be a nationwide vote on changes
that would shift power from the presidency to parliament.
Constitutional reforms included
giving the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, “greater
responsibility” for the appointment of the prime minister and the cabinet.
Currently, the president appoints
the prime minister and government ministers, and the Duma approves the
decision.
Presidnet Putin also suggested an
increased role for an advisory body called the State Council. The council,
which is currently chaired by Vladimir Putin, comprises the heads of Russia’s
federal regions. President Putin said it had proved to be “highly
effective”.
Other measures include:
Limiting the supremacy of international law
Amending the rules that limit presidents to two
consecutive terms
Strengthening laws that prohibit presidential
candidates who have held foreign citizenship or foreign residency permits
PM Dmitry Medvedev made his announcement on state TV with President Putin sitting next to him.
He said: “These changes, when they are adopted… will introduce
substantial changes not only to an entire range of articles of the
constitution, but also to the entire balance of power, the power of the
executive, the power of the legislature, the power of judiciary.
“In this context… the government in its current form
has resigned.”
Vladimir Putin thanked Dmitry Medvedev
for his work but said “not everything” had been accomplished.
He asked the prime minister to
become deputy head of the National Security Council, which is chaired by the
president.
Vladimir Putin later nominated tax
service chief Mikhail Mishustin to replace Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister.
Dmitry Medvedev has been prime minister for several years. He previously
served as president from 2008-2012, switching roles with Vladimir Putin – a
close ally – after the latter served his first two terms as president. Russia’s
constitution only allows presidents to serve two consecutive terms.
Even when he was prime minister, Vladimir Putin was widely seen as the power
behind then President Medvedev.
Opposition leader and leading Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said he believed
that any referendum on the constitutional changes would be “fraudulent
crap”. He said Vladimir Putin’s goal was to be “sole leader for
life”.
The last time Russia held a referendum was in 1993 when it adopted the
constitution under President Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin’s predecessor.
Vladimir Putin became acting president following Boris Yeltsin’s resignation in 1999 and was formally inaugurated a year later. He has held the reins of power – as president or prime minister – ever since.
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