Police Disrupt Alexey Navalny Memorial Evening in Yekaterinburg

The Sverdlovsk regional branch of the "Yabloko" party was forced to cancel the memorial evening for Alexey Navalny due to a police visit, according to sources on Telegram.

“Just a few minutes before the event's start, we noticed vehicles and police at the entrance of the party office, so we decided to cancel the event to avoid putting participants at risk of detention or arrest,” stated the party's press service.

The party also noted that the announcement regarding the event was removed from all social media pages of the branch for security reasons. People who had registered for the event were warned that police were present near the office, and thus, no one was arrested.

The press service added that the head of the branch, Maxim Petlin, was summoned to the city prosecutor's office to provide an explanation. Petlin himself said that the prosecutor's office had limited itself to a verbal warning without drafting a protocol.

“They said the situation in the country is severe. They are now arresting extremists and so on. We need to think about the future and, apparently, not hold such events at all. If one name were removed and the political prisoners were mentioned at all, maybe they would not have drawn their attention,” Petlin said. He also clarified that the agency did not plan to hold a mass event. According to him, the meeting was supposed to take place in a closed format for party members only.