USA - Thousands of Russians protest against President Vladimir Putin, suspected poisoning of Alexi Navalny

 

Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Russia's far eastern city of Khabarovsk to protest against President Vladimir Putin's handling of a regional political crisis and the suspected poisoning of his most vocal critic.

rotesters chanted "Putin, have some tea" as they marched on the city's main thoroughfare, in a reference to the case of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who fell gravely ill this month after drinking a cup of tea at an airport cafe.

Mr Navalny, 44, was airlifted to Germany last week after collapsing during a flight to Moscow from the Siberian city of Tomsk.

He remains in a medically induced coma in a Berlin hospital, and was being guarded due to concerns for his safety.

Despite calls from Germany, France and a growing list of other nations, Russia has ruled out any investigation into the suspected poisoning.

Residents of Khabarovsk, which is about 6,110 kilometres east of Moscow, started holding weekly rallies after the July 9 detention of Sergei Furgal, the region's popular Governor, over murder charges he denies.

Mr Furgal's supporters have claimed his detention was politically motivated and have denounced the Kremlin for targeting a governor they elected.

At the rally, they brandished posters denouncing "repression" and "dictatorship" and demanded Mr Furgal be released and allowed to return to the city.

Since Mr Furgal's arrest, there have been several demonstrations in Khabarovsk, and attendance has peaked on weekends.

Throughout the demonstrations, protesters have carried signs carrying strong, anti-Putin and anti-Kremlin messages.

During the past week, rallies have featured signs reading: "Kremlin violates human rights. Furgal needs international protection" and "Putin is the enemy of the people."

Some protesters have expressed solidarity with opponents of Belarusian leader and long-time Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko, who have been staging public protests for weeks over vote-rigging accusations in that country's August 9 presidential election.

Elected without an active campaign after publicly backing rival

Sergei Furgal was known as "the people's Governor" during his two years in office.(Reuters: Evgenia Novozhenina)

Mr Furgal was arrested on July 9 and taken to jail in Moscow.

Russia's Investigative Committee said he is suspected of involvement in several murders of businessmen in 2004 and 2005.

The charges relate to Mr Furgal's time as a businessman importing consumer goods, timber and metals.

A member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, Mr Furgal was elected governor in 2018, defeating the Kremlin-backed incumbent.

His victory was unexpected — Mr Furgal did not actively campaign and toed the Kremlin's line, publicly supporting his rival.

People voted for him nonetheless, delivering a humiliating blow to the main Kremlin party, United Russia, that has been losing seats in regional governments over the past two years.

During his two years in office, Mr Furgal has earned a reputation of being "the people's governor".

He cut his salary, ordered the sale of an expensive yacht the previous administration had bought, met with protesters when rallies happened and significantly reduced the cost of flights for residents of remote areas.

Key points:

• Protesters have continued demonstrations against Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin for weeks
• They have denounced Sergei Furgal's arrest as part of Moscow's "dictatorship"
• The plight of opposition politician Alexei Navalny and fellow protesters in Belarus were the focus of recent large protests
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