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During the demonstrations in several Russian cities on Saturday, whose participants expressed their support for the arrested Kremlin critic Alexei Navaln, almost 3,5 thousand people were arrested. protesters, the independent monitoring group OVD Info reported. Meanwhile, Russian authorities have launched investigations into violence by protesters and police.
After Navaln called for protests against the government of President Vladimir Putin, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country on Saturday and police clashed with protesters in Moscow.
Before the demonstrations, the US embassy sent a security warning to Americans in Russia.
“Of course, such ads are inappropriate,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television.
“And, of course, they are absolutely, if indirectly, interfering in our internal affairs,” he added.
Peskov accused the US embassy of “indirectly” supporting violations of Russian law and supporting “unauthorized protests.”
According to him, if the Russian embassy in the United States were to publish similar information, “it would cause some discomfort in Washington.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it would summon representatives from the US embassy, who would have to “explain.”
A spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy said early Sunday that U.S. embassies and consulates around the world issue security advisories to U.S. citizens regularly.
“This is a common practice in the diplomatic missions of many countries,” he told AFP.
The US embassy also said on Saturday the demonstrations, adding that Washington supports “the right of all people to peaceful protest and freedom of expression.”
“Actions taken by the Russian government are stifling those rights,” embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Ross wrote on Twitter.
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