~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (12)

Re-elected Russian president makes first public comment on death of opposition leader, which he calls ‘sad event’Vladimir Putin has claimed he had agreed to a prisoner swap involving Alexei Navalny before the opposition leader’s sudden death in an Arctic prison last month.Speaking in central Moscow after early results indicated he had won Russia’s presidential election in a landslide, Putin said unnamed people made an...

Baltic country’s state security says assault on Leonid Volkov was probably to stop Russian opposition influencing electionLithuania has blamed Moscow for the bloody hammer attack on a longtime aide to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny outside his home in Vilnius.Leonid Volkov, 43, was in hospital briefly after he was attacked with a hammer by an unknown assailant on Tuesday night in the...

As Russians prepare to give the president another six-year term this week, an ex-rival has gone from protest candidate to grotesque war hawkTwo election cycles ago, in 2012, Sergei Mironov was loudly playing the role of opposition to Russia’s ruling party, wearing the white ribbon of the protest movement in the State Duma and claiming his run against Vladimir Putin was “serious”.If made president,...

G7 leaders urge ‘additional support to close Ukraine’s remaining budget gap for 2024’Here are some of the latest images coming out of Ukraine:In a new bookshop opened in Kyiv on the street where Putin planned a conquerors’ parade two years ago, the mood is sombre. Continue reading...

Despite prompts from the host, the former US president did not mention Putin when asked about Navalny in the Fox News town hall eventDonald Trump has used an interview with Fox News to compare his own legal troubles to the persecution of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last week.In the interview on Tuesday, the former US president said Navalny was...

Ilya Yashin says Vladimir Putin ordered murder of Alexei Navalny, as Russian state opens new criminal case against latter’s brotherA jailed member of Russia’s opposition has said he fears for his life after the death of Alexei Navalny, as the Putin critic’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, demanded the Kremlin release his body so he can be “buried with dignity”.Yet as the appeals came, the Russian...

Widow of Alexei Navalny says she wants to ‘build a free Russia’ and says she will reveal why ‘Putin killed him’Yulia Navalnaya has published a video address in which she vowed to continue her late husband’s political work and called on Russians to rally around her as Alexei Navalny’s family were told they would not get access to his body for another two weeks.“I...

With Ukraine retreating and western sanctions having little impact, the Russian president is growing bolder and may embark on more reckless moves Vladimir Putin smiled and looked unusually festive on Friday as he praised factory workers and joked with state reporters at an industrial plant in the Ural city of Chelyabinsk.Putin’s confidence was unmistakable – a sign of his full belief that he would...

In Russia, the battle to eradicate the opposition leader and his legacy will continue long after his deathIn Russia, it is not enough to kill an opposition leader. His ageing mother must travel to the Arctic Circle to search a prison colony and a morgue for his body. Russians with the temerity to lay carnations in his memory must be detained.Even a preliminary cause...

Demonstrators from Berlin to Vilnius, London to Rome chant slogans against Russian president and demand accountability over deathWestern leaders point finger at Putin after Navalny’s death in jailLong opposed to exile, Navalny dies in dark and dangerous RussiaHundreds of protesters, many of them Russian émigrés, gathered in cities across Europe and beyond on Friday to express their outrage over the death of Kremlin critic...

US president says ‘I hope to God’ death of anti-Putin critic spurs lawmakers to approve critical $60bn aid package for UkraineAlexei Navalny death: live updatesThe apparent death of Russian anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny has brought new urgency to the need for Congress to approve tens of billions of dollars of aid for Ukraine, Joe Biden said on Friday.The US president put the blame for...

Russia’s presidential is a foregone conclusion, but the appearance of democracy still matters greatly to its leaderIn news that likely shocked no one, Vladimir Putin last month announced that he will seek a fifth presidential term in the upcoming March elections.In a country where Putin, 71, has come to dominate Russia’s political system and the media over the past two decades, the outcome will...