A pensioner lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin hours after the Russian federal prison service announced activist Alexei Navalny had died in prison.
Filmed by Russian independent news outlet SOTA, the outraged pensioner was taking part in a vigil for Mr Navalny held in Russia as she expressed her rage against the nation’s leader – whom she addressed as a “traitor to our country”.
She said: “Enough blood. Enough hate. Enough of all of this. He killed the children in Ukraine, how many of our soldiers died, how many Ukrainian ones, they are lying! More than 300,000 of our soldiers were killed, doesn’t he feel sorry? They are not afraid of blood, they do not fight themselves, they have profit from this war.
“How many billionaires appeared during this war? He is a traitor to our country, a traitor, Putin, who makes slaves out of people.”
The pensioner, who SOTA said had survived the siege of Leningrad during World War 2, added she isn’t “afraid” to voice her opinion as she is “old” and “they can only kill me”. She added: “Why are we listening to him, there are 140 million of us, can’t we really stand up and say, ‘Get out of here, you carrion!'”
Russia is one of the many nations where people are stepping out to show their sympathy towards the Navalny family and honour his political activism.
Hours after his death was announced, protests sparked in Georgia, Armenia, Serbia, Germany and other countries around the world.
Many gathered outside Russian embassies in their cities to lay down flowers and messages and lit candles as well as to protest Putin and his most trusted allies.
In the Armenian capital, Yerevan, as well as in the UK, many were flying a white-blue-white flag, which since the Russian invasion of Ukraine has become the symbol of the Russian opposition to the war.
Elsewhere, people were heard chanting insults against the Russian leader and messages of support for Mr Navalny.
Dozens of people also gathered outside the Russian embassy in London to express their sorrow and anger at the death of the 47-year-old activist. Many held placards protesting Putin, while others shouted slogans including, “Russia will be free, Russia will be happy” and “Navalny is a hero”.
Brave Russians in Moscow who have decided to publicly pay tribute to Mr Navalny can safely do so only by silently laying flowers at makeshift shrines dedicated to him.
The Russian prosecutor’s office has warned citizens against participating in a mass protest in the capital, saying in a statement: “Please note that this mass event has not been coordinated with the executive authorities of the city in accordance with the procedure established by law.”
Mr Navalny, who despite being behind bars since 2021 following charges he deemed politically motivated was still considered able to rally opposition against Putin, died after feeling “unwell after a walk” within the walls of a penal colony in Yamal, near the Arctic Circle, according to the directorate of the federal penitentiary service.
Many members of the public and Kremlin critics, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden, are blaming Putin for the death of Mr Navalny who, according to his grieving mother, was “healthy and cheerful” only a few days ago.
The Kremlin has dismissed these allegations, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova saying: “The immediate reaction of NATO leaders to Navalny’s death in the form of direct accusations against Russia is self-exposing. There is still no forensic examination, yet Western conclusions are already prepared.”
