Anti-Putin Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is arrested during raid in Moscow days after his ally was ‘kidnapped’ and sent to the Arctic
- Alexei Navalny was seized at headquarters of the Anti-Corruption Foundation
- Comes after his ally Ruslan Shaveddinov was taken by authorities on Monday
- He resurfaced on Christmas Eve at a military base in the remote Arctic Circle
Anti-Putin Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been detained during a raid in Moscow days after his ally was ‘kidnapped’ and sent to a remote corner of the Arctic.
The vocal Kremlin critic was seized during a raid on the Anti-Corruption Foundation’s headquarters (FBK), his spokesman said on social media.
It comes after Ruslan Shaveddinov was snatched from his Moscow home on Monday and ‘forcibly conscripted’ into the armed forces, which saw him moved to Novaya Zemlya military base more than 1,200 miles north of Moscow.
Russian oppostion leader Alexei Navalny has been seized by authorities at the headquarters of his Anti-Corruption Foundation in Moscow. (Pictured at rally in Moscow in September)
Ally Ruslan Shaveddinov, right, was seized on Monday from his Moscow home ‘for military service’ and resurfaced the next day at a military base in the remote Arctic Circle. He is pictured attending a meeting in Perm, Russia, in 2017
Appearing to ignore the ‘extra-judicial’ arrests, Putin played hockey in the Red Square yesterday with members of his government
Taking to social media, Navalny’s spokesman Kira Yarmysh said: ‘Alexei was forcibly detained and taken away. He did not resist. Lawyers are still at the FBK, and there’s a search underway.’
It was not immediately clear why Navalny had been detained.
Navalny accused Putin’s regime of ‘unlawfully’ depriving Shaveddinov of freedom in a blog post this week, and called the 23-year-old a ‘political prisoner’.
He added that Shaveddinov had not been conscripted, which is a requirement for all men aged between 18 and 27 in Russia, due to a medical condition.
The long-term ally only resurfaced after borrowing a phone in order to make contact with friends and family.
Shaveddinov, who worked on the 2018 opposition presidential campaign, was also a project manager at the foundation.
The president was seen playing with the country’s defence minister Sergey Shoigu, the governor of the Moscow region Andrei Vorobyov and other members of his government
Russian leader generally plays hockey a week before the Orthodox Christmas on January 7
Russian military spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if Shaveddinov avoided conscription he ‘broke the relevant law of the Russian Federation’, reports Reuters.
‘If he dodged conscription and was conscripted in this way then everything was done strictly in accordance with the law.’
Appearing aloof from the ‘extra-judicial’ arrests, President Putin was pictured playing hockey in the Red Square on Christmas Day.
The 67-year-old was seen skating across the ice with the country’s defence minister, Sergey Shoigu, the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, and other members of his government.
The Russian leader reportedly plays the game the week before Orthodox Christmas, which falls on January 7.