Vladimir Putin is “crazy” to start his “stupid war” in Ukraine, said opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison.
The 45-year-old Kremlin critic made the remarks during a court hearing on Tuesday in which he tried unsuccessfully to appeal against a nine-year prison sentence that he said was politically motivated.
In late March, Navalny, who was already serving a 30-month sentence, received an additional prison sentence for fraud and contempt of court. Human rights organizations described the case as a “mock trial.”
Appearing via video link on Tuesday, Navalny said the “facts” of the prosecutions were not true, comparing them to the lies Putin has used to justify his war in Ukraine.
Mr Navalny, criticizing the Russian president’s claim to “de-Nazize” Ukraine, said: “A madman has put his claws in Ukraine and I don’t know what he wants to do with it: this mad thief.”
The dissident added that Russia was run by criminals who should be seen as enemies of the people.
Kira Yarmysh, her spokeswoman, tweeted that she is also facing new criminal cases, designed by Vladimir Putin “to keep Navalny in prison for as long as he can.”
“Everyone’s job now is to make sure that Putin is defeated as soon as possible,” he added.
Navalny has urged Russian citizens to oppose the Russian president, even if he risks losing his freedom.
Shortly after Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Navalny called him a “crazy little tsar,” encouraging the public not to turn Russia into a “nation of frightened cowards.”
“I urge everyone to take to the streets and fight for peace,” he said. “If, to avoid war, we have to fill prisons and police vans, we will fill prisons and police vans.”
“Everything has a price and now, in the spring of 2022, we should pay that price.”
World leaders, including Boris Johnson, have praised Mr Navalny’s courage in recent months, and the prime minister has said he “continues to show incredible courage in facing Putin’s regime”.
“I think we’ve seen the kind of counterfeit charges Putin uses against those who seek to hold him accountable, or those who seek to participate in the democratic process, and that’s sadly a continuation of that,” he said. spokesman. said at the time of the most recent conviction of Mr. Navalny.
Navalny was arrested in January 2021 after landing back in Russia from Germany, where he had been treated for nerve poisoning, which is believed to have been ordered by the Kremlin.