The Russian Foreign Ministry called the statements of the West about the unsanctioned protests that took place in the country on January 23 as orchestrated. This was said by the official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, quoted by RIA Novosti.
“We paid attention to the statements of Western politicians on the situation around illegal actions that took place on the territory of our country, and on other Russian internal issues, practically released simultaneously, like a carbon copy,” she said.
According to Zakharova, Western officials trained in writing “beautiful phrases”, they were all alike. The Foreign Ministry spokesman was also surprised at the criticism of Western countries, since the police there use tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets against civilians.
In the afternoon of January 23, uncoordinated actions were held in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities of Russia in support of Alexei Navalny, who was arrested on January 18 for repeated violations of the conditions for observing the probationary period in the Yves Rocher case.
Alexey Navalny was transported to Berlin on August 22, 2020. Two days earlier, during the flight from Tomsk to Moscow, he felt unwell, the plane was urgently landed in Omsk. Then the patient was sent to the German clinic Charite, where local doctors announced the discovery of a substance from the Novichok group in Navalny's body. On January 17, 2021, he returned to Russia and was detained at Sheremetyevo airport. The next day, a court hearing in Khimki near Moscow arrested him for 30 days.
