Navalny announces “election campaign” against the war and against Putin

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who faces another 30 years in prison if convicted of extremism in a trial that began this Monday, announced an “election campaign” against the war in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We are going to campaign against the war. And against Putin. Simple: a long, stubborn, exhausting, but very important campaign in which we will turn the people against the war, ”Navalny said in an article published on his Internet page.

According to the imprisoned Russian opponent, the conflict provoked more than 15 months ago by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, led to “degradation of the economy and a drop in living standards.” [na Rússia]criminal soldiers and the poor are mobilized, killed and wounded.”

“This is a very specific mission, and our work will be successful, I have no doubt,” he added.

Navalny recalled that his new trial began this Monday, which he considered an occasion to “call everyone to action and announce a new, very important project: a great propaganda machine, a machine of truth “to fight” Putin’s lies and Kremlin hypocrisy.”

He also pointed out that the trial itself, which is taking place in a criminal court in the Vladimir region, in the same place where he has been serving his sentence since June 2022, “demonstrates the correctness and necessity of such a project.”

He claimed that he was being tried in prison because Putin was “afraid of the truth” and, above all, that it was reaching the masses.

“Essentially, the task of strengthening and extending ‘Putin’s’ power is achieved by shutting up the mouths of all those who dare to speak the truth,” he argued, condemning the recent increase in measures aimed at banning and legalizing organizations. .and keep silent any other opinion.

The campaign, he assured, will not be on the streets, in pickets or protests, but in social networks, in digital spaces, since “every grandmother has WhatsApp and Telegram” and even learn how to master artificial intelligence systems.

To this end, he called for the first hundred volunteers “ready to devote themselves to this beautiful but difficult cause.”

“This is a long-term project. Putin’s military defeat is inevitable. But no one knows how it will be and what the consequences will be,” he said, believing that the summits will not cede power and will try to “brainwash the citizens.” .

The military offensive launched by Russia last February in Ukraine has so far caused the flight of more than 14.7 million people — 6.5 million internally displaced and more than 8.2 million to European countries — according to the latest figures from the UN, which classifies this migration crisis was the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).

The Russian invasion, justified by Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community as a whole, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions against Russia.

The UN has presented as confirmed since the start of the war, which entered its 481st day this Monday, 9,083 civilians killed and 15,779 wounded, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.