Prominent Kremlin Critic Released After 15-Day Imprisonment

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released from a Moscow detention center on March 6, after serving 15-day sentence for “unauthorized gathering,” as reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). The BBC reported that Navalny was arrested for handing our leaflets to promote a March 1 protest rally, and that he said he would not “step back” after his release.

That protest rally later transformed into a remembrance march for Boris Nemtsov, another opposition leader, who was fatally shot on a bridge near the Kremlin on February 27. Nemtsov was a former deputy prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first post-Soviet president. Speaking to press after his release, Navalny said he would visit Nemtsov’s grave and would continue to oppose the Putin government. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty