A prominent Russian left-wing activist who has long criticized President Vladimir Putin has been arrested and charged with “justifying terrorism” on social media.
Sergei Udaltsov, a supporter of the Russo-Ukrainian war and leader of the Left Front, a coalition of Russian left-wing groups affiliated with the Russian Communist Party, wrote on Telegram earlier today that police broke down his front door and served a search warrant. I wrote that I took it. .
His lawyer Violeta Volkova told Russian state news agency Tass that electronic devices were seized during the search. Volkova said a criminal case had been opened against Udaltsov for “justifying terrorism” and he was taken for questioning and detained.
Sergei Udaltsov (left), a prominent Russian left-wing activist and critic of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested and charged with “legitimizing terrorism'' on social media. The photo on the right is President Putin. (Photo credit/Getty Images, right)
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Volkova told Tass she would likely appear in court on Friday and could face up to seven years in prison if convicted.
It is unclear which posts on social media led to Udaltsov's arrest.
Udaltsov, a leather-clad leader with a shaved head, has been actively participating in anti-Kremlin demonstrations since mass rallies in 2012, according to the Moscow Times.
In 2014, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for organizing protests that led to clashes with police on the eve of President Vladimir Putin's inauguration in 2012. He was released in August 2017 after going on a hunger strike.
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Most recently, Udaltsov was sentenced to 40 hours of forced labor for violating protocols for holding a rally in Moscow's Red Square for unfurling a flag depicting the portrait of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, TASS said. It is said that he was told.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny looks at photographers as he stands in the Babskinsky District Court in Moscow, Russia, in 2021. Navalny and Udaltsov claimed that voter fraud helped Putin in the 2012 presidential election.
Udaltsov briefly allied with Alexei Navalny, the now-jailed opposition politician who has become President Vladimir Putin's most powerful opposition figure in recent years. They claimed that voter fraud helped Putin in the 2012 presidential election.
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Since the invasion of Ukraine, multiple activists, lawyers and opposition leaders have been detained and imprisoned in Russia, while a number of mysterious deaths have also occurred.
But Udaltsov's concerns are notable given his support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. His wife Anastasia is a communist member of the Russian parliament.
Rescue workers work at a destroyed apartment building following a Russian attack in Kiev, Ukraine. Udaltsov's concerns are notable given his support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. ((AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky))
