'I Am Against This War,' Says Jailed Russian Opposition Leader Navalny

He said the war on Ukraine was unleashed to divert citizens' attention from the problems that exist in Russia.

Navalny has spent a year in jail on old fraud charges after surviving a poison attack, for which he and the West blame the Kremlin.

(Photo: IANS)

Jailed Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny said on Thursday, 24 February, that he was against President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, reported AFP.

In a video published by independent news outlet Dozhd, Navalny said, "I am against this war," as he stood trial from prison on Thursday.

Navalny has spent a year in jail on old fraud charges after surviving a poison attack, for which he and the West blame the Kremlin. He is being tried inside a maximum-security prison outside Moscow on fresh charges that could extend his prison stay by a decade.

Wearing a prison uniform, Navalny can be heard saying:

"This war between Russia and Ukraine was unleashed to cover up the theft from Russian citizens and divert their attention from problems that exist inside the country."

The Kremlin critic said that the war would "lead to a huge number of victims, destroyed futures and the continuation of this line of the impoverishment of the citizens of Russia."

Soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special operation" in Ukraine, effectively declaring war, air raid sirens went off in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Thursday, with reports of airstrikes, missile attacks, and explosions.

Hundreds of citizens rushed out of the city, while others took shelter from the shelling in underground metro stations and basements.

(With inputs from AFP.)