Russia to open probe against Navalny's strategist

Russia's Investigative Committee said Thursday it had opened a criminal probe against opposition leader Alexei Navalny's top strategist Leonid Volkov, accusing him of encouraging minors to participate in unauthorized rallies.

"Volkov knew for a fact that authorities were not approving any rallies due to the difficult epidemiological situation," said Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for the Investigative Committee.

In spite of that, he published calls for juveniles to participate in unsanctioned rallies in Moscow and other Russian cities on 23 January on YouTube, under conditions unfit for their safety.

Volkov, who lives in Germany, rejected the charges, saying there was no proof that anyone from Navalny's headquarters specifically encouraged minors to demonstrate in the rallies calling for the jailed opposition leader's release.

"And there isn't any proof of swarms of schoolkids at the January 23 protests," he added.

Also Thursday, President Vladimir Putin's spokespan Dmitry Peskov commented on the recent detentions of several allies of Navalny, saying there were "multiple violations of Russian laws and law enforcement authorities are taking action."

The detentions early Thursday came after mass demonstrations for Navalny at the weekend drew tens of thousands of participants in over 100 Russian cities, in a strong show of rising anger toward the Kremlin.