NPR

At Least 1,700 Protesters In Russia Arrested After Nationwide Anti-Putin Rallies

Demonstrators demanded the release from prison of Kremlin-critic Alexei Navalny, who has been on a hunger strike for three weeks. The marches swept across dozens of cities.

More than 1,700 protesters were arrested in Russia on Wednesday as tens of thousands of Alexei Navalny supporters marched in demonstrations across the country.

OVD-info, the Russian human rights monitoring project, has been tracking the apprehensions, which started before the protests demanding that the Kremlin release the jailed opposition leader even began.

Navalny has been on a three weekearlier this week he could die "at any minute" without the proper medical care. Supporters organized the rallies — defying a national ban — to pressure President Vladimir Putin and his government to release the anti-corruption campaigner and to stop the Kremlin from shuttering Navalny's organization.

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