Participants of an unauthorized rally of supporters of Alexei Navalny and police officers on Pushkin Square in Moscow
The United States strongly condemns the use of force by law enforcement officials against citizens and journalists during unauthorized actions that have taken place in Russia. The corresponding statement on Twitter was published by the representative of the US State Department Ned Price.
In addition, Price called for the release of all those detained “for exercising their universal rights,” as well as opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Before that, before the start of the unauthorized actions, the US Embassy in Russia published a list of cities, the time of the beginning of the rallies and the approximate route of their participants. The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that any attempts to cover unauthorized rallies would be regarded as gross interference in the country's internal affairs.
The agency later accused American diplomats of inciting protests, stressing that these actions would negatively affect bilateral relations. In addition, the ministry assured that the leadership of the American embassy “will have a serious conversation at the Russian Foreign Ministry.”
In the afternoon of January 23, uncoordinated actions took place 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.
