A reputable group of human rights defenders reported today, February 18 (29 days), that Russia has detained more than 400 people for commemorating Alexei Navalny, the main opponent of Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia.

The sudden death of 47-year-old Novalni, if the reason is not yet clear, will be a great shock to a large number of Russian citizens. Until the end of his life, Navalny refrained from criticizing the Kremlin, even after he was poisoned and sentenced to prison several times.

Tim Nawalani said on Saturday that he was “murdered”. But the Russian authorities said that on Friday, after walking, Nawalani felt weak and fainted, and finally died suddenly.

The news of the death caused global reactions and hundreds of people in several cities of Russia paid political tribute to the victims by building memorials and laying flowers.

The human rights group “OVD-Info”, which monitors political arrests and provides legal assistance, reported that the police arrested 401 people in dozens of Russian cities last night.

According to this report, more than 200 people were arrested in St. Petersburg alone, including Grigory Mikhanov, a priest who had announced a memorial service for Navalny on social media. Mikhanov was accused by the police of organizing the march, but later he was hospitalized due to a stroke.

According to the order of the St. Petersburg court, 42 of those arrested will be sentenced to one to six days in prison. In Moscow, the capital of Russia, at least six people were sentenced to 15 days in prison.

The news of Novalni’s death was published a month before the presidential election in Russia, the election in which Vladimir Putin is expected to be elected as president for another six years.

Navalny would have been a prisoner since 2021 and served 19 years in prison. And after that, if he was hospitalized in Germany due to poisoning, he would return to Moscow and be arrested. Navalny had charged that the Kremlin was involved in the poisoning.