Status: 05.10.2022 07:17
Supporters of the Russian regime critic Navalny see the Russian leadership as weakened and want to regroup. A close ally of Navalny announced that the network would work as an “underground partisan”.
Leading allies of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have announced the re-formation of a network of anti-government groups across Russia. The time has come as the government has been weakened by questions about the war in Ukraine.
“The sleeping majority woke up, (President Vladimir) Putin himself woke them up,” former director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation Ivan Zhdanov said in a video.
Network as “underground partisan”
The video was posted by Navalny’s closest ally and key strategist, Leonid Volkov. “It’s time to restore our network to fight against mobilization and war,” Zhdanov said. The network will act as an “underground partisan,” explained Zhdanov and Volkov. Participants remained anonymous for their safety.
Navalny has been in prison since January 2021, and the allegations against him are considered politically motivated. Many of his close colleagues have left Russia. His group’s political infrastructure – the anti-corruption foundation and a network of regional offices – was dismantled in 2021 after being labeled extremist.
Two-thirds of the reservists drafted
Meanwhile, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, more than 200,000 Russians have already been drafted into military service. “The training takes place on 80 training sites and in six training centers,” he said in Moscow, according to his ministry. On September 21, Russia ordered a partial mobilization to strengthen its troops in Ukraine.
After Russia’s State Duma, the Federation Council has now also ratified the illegal annexation of several Ukrainian territories. Last Friday, President Vladimir Putin signed the internationally unrecognized accession treaties with the occupying forces deployed by Moscow. He still has to sign the annexation law before it comes into force.