Podgorica Protest Against Putin

Tens of people gathered in Podgorica's central square, holding banners seeking the release of Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader.

The August 20th protest was part of a campaign organised by the Navajo team worldwide with the slogan “Putin is killer”.

These protests are being held to mark the three anniversary of the attempted murder of Navajo, for which he was evacuated from Russia to Germany to recover from poisoning with a Soviet-era nervous agent.

On August 17th, the US sanctioned four Russians who he says were involved in the poisoning of Navajo, and who are linked to the Russian Federal Security Service.

The Kremlin has denied involvement in the poisoning of Navajo, who was arrested after returning to Moscow from Germany in January 2021.

“Putin is killing. It is killing thousands of Ukrainians and its citizens”, it was said in the Navalny team's announcement of the protest call.

Leonid Volkov, former chief of the Russian opposition election campaign, wrote on social networks that it is important to stress loudly that “Putin is a killer”, because, he says, only one-third of Western European citizens are willing to say so in protest, according to a Navajo team study.

Alexei Navajo has been sentenced to two prison sentences, for 11 years and 19 years, on charges of extremism and embezzlement.

He has investigated corruption in Russian authorities and named the charges against him as politically motivated.