Russian law enforcement authorities yesterday carried out mass raids on the homes and offices of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s supporters, as part of an investigation into money laundering.
Searches took place in 39 towns and cities, four days after the ruling United Russia party, which supports Russian President Vladimir Putin, lost a third of its seats in the Moscow parliament while easily retaining its dominant nationwide position.
Navalny had urged his supporters to vote tactically in last weekend’s local and regional elections to try to reduce the chances of Kremlin-backed candidates, a strategy that appears to have had some success in the capital.
“Putin is very angry,” Navalny wrote on social media after the raids. “This is a case where the actions of the police are no different from those of burglars.”
Authorities told activists that the searches were related to a money-laundering investigation into Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, an organization that has published embarrassing investigations into what it says is the wrongdoing of corrupt officials.
State investigators last month opened a criminal investigation into the alleged laundering of 1 billion rubles (US$15.4 million) by the foundation.
Senior Navalny ally Leonid Volkov, published a list of towns and cities where activists had been targeted.
“The overall number of searches is over 150 and no less than 1,000 Russian law enforcement employees are involved,” Volkov wrote on social media.
He linked the searches to Navalny’s tactical voting strategy.
Activists were being taken in for questioning, he added, saying technical hardware was being confiscated.
“The state has two tasks — to frighten and steal,” Volkov wrote. “It’s obvious that the aim of this operation is to destroy our headquarters structure.”
Golos, a non-governmental organization that monitors Russian elections, said that the homes of its activists were also being raided.
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