MOSCOW, Russia (Nov. 9) —Vladimir Putin is a “crazy little monarch,” says Alexei Navalny, a jailed Kremlin opponent. Navalny told Russians to hold rallies every day against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that the country should not be a “nation of fearful cowards” and calling Putin a “crazy little prince.”
“I am pushing everyone to march to the streets and fight for peace.”
“If filling prisons and police vans is necessary to avert conflict, we will do it.”
“Everything has a cost, and we should pay that cost now, in the spring of 2022.”
In the past, the 45-year-old led Russia’s biggest anti-Putin rallies in recent years and survived a nerve agent poisoning in 2020. Now, he’s in prison outside of Moscow for fraud.
Dozens of thousands of people in Russia have taken to the streets to oppose the invasion, and an independent monitor says that more than 6,800 people have been arrested.
Navalny called on the citizens of Russia and Belarus—which permitted Russian soldiers to assault Ukraine—to protest at 7:00 p.m. on weekdays and 2:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays in major squares.
“You cannot wait another day,” he warned, adding that Russia must not become a “country of fearful cowards” oblivious to a “aggressive war launched by our plainly deranged little monarch.”
Putin told his soldiers to go into pro-Western Ukraine on Thursday to “demilitarize” and “denazify” the country, which is why they were there.
Ukraine claims that the battle has killed over 350 people, including 14 children, and the International Criminal Court has begun a war crimes investigation against Russia.
Putin invaded Ukraine at the same time as a new assault on domestic opposition. This included the banning of Navalny’s political groups.
Navalny accused Putin of relying on “false history” to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
“I can’t, won’t, and can’t keep quiet as I watch how Russians are killing Ukrainians and those who defend themselves are killing Russians,” he said.
“Putin does not represent Russia.”
