Navalny supporters urged to protest in residential courtyards to avoid police

An ally of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny called on Russians to change their protest strategy amid a police crackdown on his supporters.

Leonid Volkov, Navalny's chief of staff, urged supporters of the opposition leader to hold up their smartphone flashlights from residential courtyards at 8:00 pm on Sunday for 15 minutes.

"Take a picture from above, from one of the apartments, and post it on Instagram. Let social media feeds be filled with thousands of such burning hearts from dozens of Russian cities," Volkov wrote on Facebook in a post entitled "Love is stronger than fear".

He asked that residents protest with candles and flashlights in a heart in a protest that will take place on Valentine's Day.

"Putin has made fear his main and only weapon. This means that we need to adopt something that is stronger than fear," Volkov wrote.

Navalny was detained by Russian police in Moscow on January 17 when he arrived from Germany after recovering from a poisoning he blames on the Kremlin. He was recently handed a 3.5-year jail sentence, part of which he has already served.


Source: ​euronews.com​​​