Thailand's convicted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has arrived at his mansion in the capital Bangkok after being released on parole.
The billionaire was freed from a police hospital, where he had been serving a one-year jail sentence for corruption and abuse of power.
Thaksin, 74, was detained as soon as he returned to Thailand last August from 15 years in self-imposed exile.
He did not spend a single night in jail after complaining of health problems.
Thaksin's original eight-year prison term was commuted to one year by Thailand's king - just days after he returned from exile.
The handling of the case has led to criticism from many Thais, who say the rich and powerful are often given privileged treatment.
"Thailand needs a democratic system where the rule of law and justice system is applied in the same way for everyone, without double standards... for privileged people," Thailand's Move Forward Party, which won a majority of seats at the last election but was blocked from government by the Senate, said in a statement.
"Very sick? Parole? What disease?" Senator Somchai Swangkarn said.
On Sunday, Thaksin was seen being driven away from the police hospital in the capital, where he had spent the last six months.
"Congratulations to PM Thaksin on returning home to Chansongla this morning," government adviser and former energy minister Pichai Naripthapan posted on social media following his release.
"I hope he will have good health and much happiness and warmth from his beloved family," he said.
Thai authorities said Thaksin was eligible for parole due to his age and health issues.
They did not say whether he was released under certain conditions such as monitoring or travel curbs.
Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told local reporters he had no plans to meet Thaksin just yet, but that "everyone in the government is ready to listen" if Thaksin wanted to provide political advice.
Thaksin, Thailand's most successful elected leader, has long been feared by conservative royalists, who have backed military coups and contentious court cases to weaken him.
He left the country in 2008 after being deposed by a coup two years earlier. He spent his exile years mostly in London or Dubai.
His family's Pheu Thai party is currently in power in Thailand.
The former telecoms magnate remains one of the most divisive public figures in the country: loathed by many of Bangkok's rich elite, but adored by millions of poor rural Thais for his populist policies.
Thaksin was the first prime minister in Thailand's history to lead an elected government through a full term in office in 2001-06.
A prominent rights group says more than 400 people have been detained in Russia while paying tribute to opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died at a remote Arctic penal colony, reports news agency the Associated Press (AP).
The sudden death of the 47-year-old Navalny was a crushing blow to many Russians, who had pinned their hopes for the future on president Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe.
Navalny remained vocal in his unrelenting criticism of the Kremlin even after surviving a nerve agent poisoning and receiving multiple prison terms. Hundreds of people in dozens of Russian cities streamed to ad-hoc memorials and monuments to victims of political repressions with flowers and candles on Friday and Saturday to pay a tribute to the politician. In more than 12 cities, police detained 401 people by Saturday night, according to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests and provides legal aid.
More than 200 arrests were made in St Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, the group said. Among those detained there was Grigory Mikhnov-Voitenko, a priest of the Apostolic orthodox church – a religious group independent of the Russian orthodox church – who announced plans on social media to hold a memorial service for Navalny and was arrested on Saturday morning outside his home. He was charged with organising a rally and placed in a holding cell in a police precinct, but was later hospitalised with a stroke, OVD-Info reported.
According to AP, courts in St Petersburg have ordered 42 of those detained on Friday to serve from one to six days in jail, while nine others were fined, court officials said late on Saturday. In Moscow, at least six people were ordered to serve 15 days in jail, according to OVD-Info. One person was also jailed in the southern city of Krasnodar and two more in the city of Bryansk, the group said.
The news of Navalny’s death came a month before a presidential election in Russia that is widely expected to give Putin another six years in power. Questions about the cause of death lingered on Sunday, and it remained unclear when the authorities would release his body to his family.
Poland’s Radek Sikorski has stressed Poland’s support for Ukraine at the third day of the Munich Security Conference, but acknowledged that Warsaw and Kyiv have two problems linked to grain and trucking.
This is difficult because it’s structural.
Responding to the Polish foreign minister on stage, Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, said:
We have to solve it. There are legitimate messages on both sides.
I think that the major contribution in resolving these issues has been done by Ukraine, because we secured the Black Sea. And now the grain is easily releasable through the Black Sea. We also have done our steps that we ensured the control of exports to neighbouring countries.
So there are some steps done, but we have to solve it.
Events on the battlefield in Ukraine are a matter of “life and death” for Russia that could determine its fate, president Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired Sunday, reports news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The Kremlin has repeatedly framed the almost two-year conflict as a battle for Russia’s survival in a bid to rally patriotic sentiment among its population, many apathetic toward the offensive.
“I think it is still important for us ourselves, and even more so for our listeners and viewers abroad, to understand our way of thinking,” Putin said in an interview with state TV.
“Everything that is happening on the Ukraine front: For them it is an improvement of their tactical position, but for us it is our fate, it is a matter of life and death,” he said.
Putin was responding to a question about a two-hour long interview he gave to US talkshow host Tucker Carlson, which the Kremlin used to promote its narratives on the conflict.
In that interview, Putin talked at length about Russian history and continuously questioned Ukraine’s statehood, drawing ire in both Kyiv and the west.
“For the western listener, the viewer, it was not easy. Even more so for Americans,” Putin said when asked about his long, historical musings in the Carlson interview.
“The history of the US is 300-odd years, and I started in 862. So I think it was not easy for American audiences to understand,” he said.
Responding to USRepublican senator JD Vance on a panel at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, German politician Ricarda Lang pushed back at the idea of a deal with Russia.
Putin has shown over and over again – and he just showed this with the murder of Navalny on Friday – that he has no interest in peace at the moment. That he does not want peace.
So if you say we stop supporting Ukraine, stop giving weapons to them, you are not having some scenario where this leads to peace, but at the moment this leads to two scenarios: either you are prolonging this war, or you give up Ukraine and Putin wins.
A prominent rights group says more than 400 people have been detained in Russia while paying tribute to opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died at a remote Arctic penal colony, reports news agency the Associated Press (AP).
The sudden death of the 47-year-old Navalny was a crushing blow to many Russians, who had pinned their hopes for the future on president Vladimir Putin’s fiercest foe.
Navalny remained vocal in his unrelenting criticism of the Kremlin even after surviving a nerve agent poisoning and receiving multiple prison terms. Hundreds of people in dozens of Russian cities streamed to ad-hoc memorials and monuments to victims of political repressions with flowers and candles on Friday and Saturday to pay a tribute to the politician. In more than 12 cities, police detained 401 people by Saturday night, according to the OVD-Info rights group that tracks political arrests and provides legal aid.
More than 200 arrests were made in St Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, the group said. Among those detained there was Grigory Mikhnov-Voitenko, a priest of the Apostolic orthodox church – a religious group independent of the Russian orthodox church – who announced plans on social media to hold a memorial service for Navalny and was arrested on Saturday morning outside his home. He was charged with organising a rally and placed in a holding cell in a police precinct, but was later hospitalised with a stroke, OVD-Info reported.
According to AP, courts in St Petersburg have ordered 42 of those detained on Friday to serve from one to six days in jail, while nine others were fined, court officials said late on Saturday. In Moscow, at least six people were ordered to serve 15 days in jail, according to OVD-Info. One person was also jailed in the southern city of Krasnodar and two more in the city of Bryansk, the group said.
The news of Navalny’s death came a month before a presidential election in Russia that is widely expected to give Putin another six years in power. Questions about the cause of death lingered on Sunday, and it remained unclear when the authorities would release his body to his family.
JD Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio, said he believes Donald Trump doesn’t want to abandon Europe, but “is actually issuing a wake up call to say that Europe has to take a bigger role in its own security.”
Speaking at the third day of the Munich Security Conference, he added: “I do not think that Vladimir Putin is an existential threat to Europe, and to the extent that he is, again, that suggests that Europe has to take a more aggressive role in its own security.”
The limiting factor for US support to Ukraine, Vance argued, is “not money, it’s munitions.”
We don’t make enough munitions to support a war in eastern Europe, a war in the Middle East and potentially contingency in East Asia. So the United States is fundamentally limited.
David Lammy, the UK shadow foreign secretary, said on stage at the Munich Security Conference that he wants a new security pact between the EU and the UK.
He said:
Of course I’m hoping that there is a general election this year and I have the privilege of becoming the UK foreign secretary, because it’s absolutely fundamental that the United Kingdom and Europe have the closest of relationships and the Brexit era is over, the situation is settled.
And what my party is proposing is a new EU-UK security pact. And it’s a pact that is effectively built on the fact that we obviously have war here in Europe.
But the truth is, and it’s important that we summon up to the room the courage of Alexei Navalny – what it reminds is that not withstanding that war, Russia will continue to be a threat for Europe for months, years, perhaps a generation more.
And that means that the defence capability of the UK, alongside our partners in France particularly representing about 50% of Europe’s defence capability, but also the intelligence capability of the Five Eyes system in partnership with the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, is absolutely essential, and is why we need now a new security pact.
Now, that security pact is not to rival Nato, it is to run in parallel with Nato.
Here are some key points related to Russia-Ukraine from the second day of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. The annual event brings together policymakers from across the globe for discussions on security. The day focused heavily on Russia’s war in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East.
The chief topic of conversation among the western defence establishment inside the gilded Hotel Bayerischer Hof was whether Ukraine’s problems are fixable – the answer is mainly yes – but only if the west has the political will to act.
Speaking at the conference, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said Europeans need to do much more on security.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, told the conference participants that “2024 must become a time for a full restoration of a rules-based world order.”
The Ukrainian leader said that if Donald Trump visits Ukraine he would be ready to go with him to the frontline.
Zelenskiy also told world leaders not to fear Vladimir Putin’s defeat.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU “has to step up its defence industrial base.”
David Cameron, the British foreign secretary, signalled that there would be “consequences” in the wake of the death of Alexei Navalny.
Germany’s Scholz said he was really depressed to hear of Navalny’s death.
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, warned against “dehumanisation.”
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, said in Munich that Beijing wants to be a force for stability and that China and Europe should avoid “ideological distractions.”
In a speech today in Hungary, the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said it is on course to ratify Sweden’s accession at the beginning of its parliament’s spring session, which begins on 26 February.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday he had discussed the prospects for peace in Kyiv’s nearly two-year-old war against Russia with his Chinese counterpart, part of a long-running bid to bolster relations with Beijing.
“I met with my Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss bilateral relations, trade, and the need to restore a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote on X of their talks at the Munich Security Conference.
Kuleba said he had discussed Ukraine’s plans to hold a global peace summit, which Switzerland has agreed to help stage. The two men, he said, “agreed on the need to maintain Ukraine-China contacts at all levels and continue our dialogue”.
China has attended at least one of the preparatory meetings that have taken place in anticipation of such a summit.
Reuters reports that the Chinese foreign ministry has yet to release details on Wang’s talks with Kuleba. But, in his public remarks to the conference, Wang said China had persisted in promoting peace talks and in playing a positive role in restoring peace, according to a statement from the ministry released on Sunday.
Ukraine has sought to enhance ties with Beijing and bring China onside for Kyiv’s 10-point peace plan which focuses on a withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied territory, the restoration of 1991 post-Soviet borders and a framework to bring Moscow to account for its actions.
China, which has been pursing a “strategic partnership” with Russia, proposed a peace plan of its own last year calling for a ceasefire, negotiations and an end to sanctions against Russia. But the plan made little headway.
“China is not the creator of the Ukraine crisis, nor is it a party, but we have not merely watched the ‘fire’ on the other side, nor have we taken advantage of the opportunity to benefit [from the situation],” Wang said at the conference, according to the ministry’s statement.
Ukraine negotiations should restart as soon as possible to reduce losses on both sides, Wang told the conference. “As long as there is still a glimmer of hope for peace, we will not give up,” he said.
Also, the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth has written about how the Kremlin are playing for time after Alexei Navalny’s death. You can read the piece here:
In Russia, it is not enough to kill an opposition leader. His ageing mother must travel to the Arctic Circle to search a prison colony and a morgue for his body. Russians with the temerity to lay carnations in his memory must be detained.
Even a preliminary cause of death, “sudden death syndrome”, was misleading, as though his death behind bars was not years in the making.
All this happened the day after Alexei Navalny died, as the bureaucratic machinery of the vast Russian state swung into gear, brushing over the Kremlin critic’s death with a veneer of official disdain and petty cruelty.
“It’s obvious that they are lying and doing everything they can to avoid handing over the body,” said Kira Yarmysh, Navalny’s press secretary, as 69-year-old Lyudmila, his mother, and a lawyer battled to retrieve his body in the city of Salekhard.
My colleague, the Observer’s Jon Ungoed-Thomas has written about a new scheme which means Ukrainians can extend their UK visas by 18 months. You can read the piece here:
Ukrainians who sought sanctuary in the UK after the Russian invasion will be permitted to extend their visas for an extra 18 months, the Home Office has announced.
More than 200,000 Ukrainians visa holders have arrived in the UK since March 2022, with the first visas to expire in March next year. The Home Office said that the new scheme would provide “certainty and assurance” for Ukrainians in the UK.
This weekend, the government appealed for more British families to come forward to sponsor Ukrainians. But the Local Government Association (LGA) sounded a note of caution, urging the government to review the financial support for Ukrainians facing the risk of homelessness.
Ukraine’s forces destroyed 12 Russia-launched attack drones overnight as well as one Kh-59 cruise missile and one SU-34 fighter-bomber, Ukraine’s air force commander said on Sunday, reports Reuters.
“I want to thank air force units for their successful combat work!” Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Have a nice day everyone!”
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
It has gone 10am in Kyiv and 11am in Moscow. This is our latest Guardian blog on the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the capture of Avdiivka “an important victory” after Ukraine’s military chief said on Saturday that his troops withdrew from the devastated town in the east of the country after months of intense combat.
Although the Russian defence ministry said that Ukrainian units were still entrenched at the town’s coke plant, the advance on Avdiivka was Moscow’s biggest advance since it took the city of Bakhmut last May.
It is also the clearest sign yet of how the tide of the war has turned in Moscow’s favour after a Ukrainian counteroffensive failed to break through Russian lines last year.
“The head of state congratulated Russian soldiers on this success, an important victory,” the Kremlin said in a statement on its website.
US President Joe Biden meanwhile said he had told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy he was “confident” the US Congress would renew war aid, but added that without American help Kyiv could lose further territory to Russian advances.
Failure by US lawmakers to approve new funding for military aid to Kyiv would be “absurd” and “unethical,” Biden told reporters after attending church in Delaware, adding: “I’m going to fight to get them the ammunition they need.”
In other key developments:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a desperate plea for fresh arms on Saturday. He told the Munich Security Conference that the slowing of weapons supplies was having a direct impact on the frontline and was forcing Ukraine to cede territory.
Zelenskiy also told world leaders not to ask when the Ukraine war will end but instead “why is Putin still able to continue it” as he underlined the threat Russia poses beyond his own country and called for more support.
A number of Ukrainian troops were captured by Russia during their withdrawal from the town of Avdiivka, Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, the Ukrainian commander responsible for forces in Ukraine’s south-east, has said.
The Russian defence ministry said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had left Avdiivka and were entrenched at the nearby Avdiivka coke and chemical plant in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. “Measures are being taken to completely clear the city of militants and to block Ukrainian units that have left the city and are entrenched at the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant,” spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said in a video published on the ministry’s Telegram channel.
Russian forces shelled and fired missiles at a series of cities in eastern Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least three peopleand leaving others under the rubble of shattered buildings, Ukrainian officials said. Two cities close to the frontline in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region – Kramatorsk and Slovyansk – came under fire. And farther north in the town of Kupiansk one person was killed when a two-storey house was struck by Russian shells, the governor of Kharkiv region said.
Ukrainian forces shot down three Russian warplanes over eastern Ukraine on Saturday, the country’s air force chief has said. This claim has not been independently verified.
Kamala Harris on Saturday criticised Donald Trump’s cajoling of Russia to attack Nato allies of the US who don’t pay their dues, saying the American people would never accept a president who bowed to a dictator. “The idea that the former president of the US would say that he – quote – encourages a brutal dictator to invade our allies, and that the United States of America would simply stand by and watch,” Harris said. “No previous US president, regardless of their party, has bowed down to a Russian dictator before.”
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday he had discussed the prospects for peace with his Chinese counterpart, part of a long-running bid to bolster relations with Beijing. Kuleba said he had discussed with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi about Ukraine’s plans to hold a global peace summit, which Switzerland has agreed to help stage.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s mother and his lawyer were told on Saturday that he had been struck down by “sudden death syndrome”, his team has said. Another lawyer of Navalny’s, however, was told by the penal colony’s investigative committee that the cause of death had not yet been established, Navalny’s spokesperson said.
G7 foreign ministers have demanded that Russia fully clarify the circumstances surrounding Navalny’s death. The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US met in Munich on Saturday.
Oleksandr Syrskii says the decision was taken to preserve soldiers’ lives and prevent their encirclement.
Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the front-line city of Avdiivka, the new army chief announced, after months of heavy fighting and little progress in repelling Russian forces in the country’s eastern front.
“I decided to withdraw our units from the town and move to defence from more favourable lines in order to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen,” Oleksandr Syrskii said on Saturday, days after taking the helm of the Ukrainian military in a major shake-up.
The battle for the industrial hub, less than 10km (six miles) north of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk, has been one of the bloodiest of the two-year war. Many compare it with the battle for Bakhmut, in which tens of thousands of soldiers were killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that pulling out troops “was a professional decision that will save many Ukrainian lives”.
“Our actions are limited only by the sufficiency and length of range of our strength,” he added, pointing to the situation in Avdiivka.
Russia has been trying to capture the city since October and has surrounded it on three sides, leaving limited resupply routes for Ukrainian forces.
Avdiivka had about 34,000 inhabitants before the Russian invasion. Most of the city has been since destroyed but an estimated 1,000 residents remain, according to local authorities. Videos on social media showed a town left in rubble.
“In a situation where the enemy is advancing over the corpses of their own soldiers with a 10-to-one shelling advantage, under constant bombardment, this is the only right decision,” said Oleksandr Tarnavsky, the army’s commander of the Avdiivka area.
Before issuing orders to pull out of Avdiivka, Tarnavsky on Friday said several Ukrainian soldiers had been captured by Russian forces.
The city has important symbolic value and Moscow hopes its capture will make Ukraine’s bombing of Donetsk more difficult. The withdrawal comes ahead of Russian presidential elections scheduled for March in which incumbent Vladimir Putin is set to win a fifth term, allowing him to continue leading the invasion of Ukraine.
Avdiivka lies in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, which the Kremlin has claimed to be part of Russia since a 2022 annexation that remains unrecognised by nearly all United Nations members.
At the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Zelenskyy pushed for countries to give Ukraine longer-range weapons and more air defence systems.
“Unfortunately keeping Ukraine in the artificial deficit of weapons, particularly in deficit of artillery and long-range capabilities, allows Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war,” Zelenskyy said in Germany. “The self-weakening of democracy over time undermines our joint results.”
He also promised “to surprise Russia” later this year with new drone systems and electronic warfare.
Zelenskyy on Friday signed security pacts with France and Germany to lock in support for Kyiv. He is also expected to make further pleas for financing and armaments at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
All 27 European Union countries this month agreed on an additional 50-billion-euro ($54bn) aid package for Ukraine.
United States President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Avdiivka risked falling to Russian forces because of ammunition shortages following months of Republican congressional opposition to a new US military aid package for Kyiv.
Alexei Navalny's wife fights back tears as she calls on world to 'punish' Putin
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US president Joe Biden has blamed Vladimir Putin for the death in prison of the Russian leader’s fiercest critic, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, at the age of 47.
Paying tribute to the political activist’s bravery, Mr Biden said: “We don’t know exactly what happened to Navalny, but no doubt his death was the consequence of Putin and his thugs.”
It comes as Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson confirmed that the Russian opposition figure is dead, ending 24 hours of relative uncertainty.
“His death occurred on 16 February at 2.17pm local time, according to the official message to Alexei’s mother,” Kira Yarmysh wrote on X .
The news came after it was reported that Mr Navalny’s mother was en route to the prison where her son had died this morning.
Ms Yarmysh said that investigators had picked up his body and moved it to Salekhard, a town near the Arctic Circle penal colony within which Mr Navalny had been jailed.
She issued a demand for the return of Mr Nalavny’s body over fears the authorities could tamper with evidence suggesting his murder.
Alexei’s body is not in the morgue, says spokesperson
Alexei Navalny’s body is not in the morgue where he was supposedly transferred by investigators after his death, the Russian opposition figure’s spokesperson has said.
“Alexei’s lawyer and mother arrived at the Salekhard morgue. It is closed, despite the colony’s assurances that it is working and Navalny’s body is there,” wrote Kira Yarmysh on X.
“The lawyer called the phone number indicated on the door. He was told that he was the seventh person to call today. They don’t have Alexei’s body in the morgue.”
Navalny’s body not in morgue near penal colony despite authorities’ claims
Alexei Navalny’s body has not arrived at the only morgue in Salekhard, the town near to the prison colony where Navalny died, an employee told Reuters by phone on Saturday.
Earlier, the prison authorities said Mr Navalny’s body had been sent to Salekhard for investigations.
Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh on Saturday confirmed that Navalny was dead, citing an official notice given to Navalny’s mother, Lydumila, and demanded that Navalny’s body be handed over to his family immediately.
Family demand body of Alexei Navalny to be handed over ‘immediately’
Alexei Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh on Saturday confirmed that Navalny was dead, citing an official notice given to Navalny’s mother, Lydumila.
Navalny, a 47-year-old former lawyer, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the “Polar Wolf” Arctic penal colony in Kharp, about 1,900 km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, where he was serving a three-decade sentence, Russian authorities said.
“We demand that Alexei Navalny’s body be given to his family immediately,” Yarmysh said.
Lord Cameron warns of consequences for Navalny’s death
UK Foreign secretary Lord David Cameron has warned there will be consequences for the death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
Speaking to broadcasters at the Munich Security Conference, the Foreign Secretary said: “Reflecting overnight makes you think what an incredibly brave man this was. His life revealed so much about the true nature of (Vladimir) Putin’s ghastly regime. And his death has revealed that all over again.
“There should be consequences. When appalling human rights outrages like this take place, what we do is we look at whether there are individual people that are responsible and whether there are individual measures and actions we can take. We don’t announce them in advance, so I can’t say anything more than that. But that is what we will be looking at.
“Of course we have already summoned the ambassador and made clear our views about this dreadful event and the way this person was treated.”
France's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Stephane Sejourne (L) and Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron shake hands ahead of their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference
Navalny's mother travelling to Russian prison where he died - Novaya Gazeta
Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, is travelling to the prison colony where he died, accompanied by Navalny's lawyer, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper has reported.
Mr Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's most formidable domestic opponent, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony where he was serving a three-decade sentence, authorities said.
Kaja Kallas: The killing of Navalny shows the dictator’s handbook in real life
Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas has said that the killing of Alexei Navalny shows “the dictator’s handbook in real life”.
“This is the way Putin operates,” she told the Munich Security Conference. “This is the dictator’s handbook in real life. So we should be aware of this.
“And like president Zelenskiy said, let’s not discuss how to do something, we have to do everything to stop him. Because history rhymes.
“We have seen this already in the 1930s, the same thing, I mean American isolationism on the one side, this not stopping the aggressor when we have the chance to stop him, and then seeing aggression spread all over the world.
“Let’s do the right thing, let’s learn something from history.”
Zelensky accuses Putin of being a ‘thug’ after Navalny death
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has referenced the death of Alexei Navalny during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, branding Vladimir Putin a “thug”.
He told attendees: “Putin kills whoever he wants, be it an opposition leader, or anyone else who seems as the target exactly to him.
“After the murder of Alexei Navalny, it’s absurd to perceive Putin as a supposedly legitimate head of a Russian state and he is a thug who maintains power through corruption and violence.”
Speaking ahead of the two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said: “He has just yesterday tried to send us all a clear message as the Munich Security Conference opened, Putin murdered another opposition leader.
“So please, let’s not fear Putin’s defeat and the destruction of his regime. Let’s instead work together to destroy what he stands for. It is his fate to lose, not the fate of the rules based world order to vanish.”
He told attendees: “Do not ask Ukraine when the war will end. Ask yourselves why Putin is still able to continue it.”
Watch: Alexei Navalny vigil held outside Russian embassy in London
Crowds gathered at a vigil for Alexei Navalny outside the Russian embassy in London on Friday 16 February. You can watch the demonstration below.
Britain has joined other Western countries in condemning the Kremlin after Russia’s federal prison service said in a statement that the 47-year-old politician and anti-corruption campaigner had died.
Trubites to Alexei Navalny removed overnight by unidentified authorities
Floral tributes to Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe who died on Friday in a Russian penal colony, were removed overnight by groups of unidentified people while police watched, videos on Russian social media show.
More than 100 people were detained in eight cities across Russia after they came to lay flowers in memory of Mr Navalny, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political repression in Russia.
On Saturday, police blocked access to a memorial in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk and detained several people there as well as in another Siberian city, Surgut, OVD-Info said.
Video shared on social media from Novosibirsk showed people sticking red flowers upright in the snow under the watchful eye of police who blocked access to the memorial with ticker tape.
In Moscow, flowers were removed overnight from a memorial near the headquarters of Russia's Federal Security Service by a large group while police looked on, a video showed.
Paying tribute to the political activist’s bravery, Mr Biden said: “We don’t know exactly what happened to Navalny, but no doubt his death was the consequence of Putin and his thugs.”
Mr Navalny’s widow warned the Russian president her husband’s death would not go unpunished.
Yulia Navalnaya said: “To Putin and all those who work for him, his entire entourage, his friends, I want them to know that they will not go unpunished.
“They will be punished for what they have done to our country, for what they have done to my family, for what they have done to my husband. They will be held responsible and this day will come.”
Prison chiefs said medical staff were unable to resuscitate Mr Navalny, who last month was moved to an Arctic jail, after he lost consciousness. It said the reason of death was being established.
UK security minister Tom Tugendhat accused the Kremlin of having murdered Mr Navalny to silence him.
Navalny's mother travelling to Russian prison where he died - Novaya Gazeta
Lyudmila Navalnaya, the mother of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, is travelling to the prison colony where he died, accompanied by Navalny's lawyer, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper has reported.
Mr Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin's most formidable domestic opponent, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony where he was serving a three-decade sentence, authorities said.
Kaja Kallas: The killing of Navalny shows the dictator’s handbook in real life
Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas has said that the killing of Alexei Navalny shows “the dictator’s handbook in real life”.
“This is the way Putin operates,” she told the Munich Security Conference. “This is the dictator’s handbook in real life. So we should be aware of this.
“And like president Zelenskiy said, let’s not discuss how to do something, we have to do everything to stop him. Because history rhymes.
“We have seen this already in the 1930s, the same thing, I mean American isolationism on the one side, this not stopping the aggressor when we have the chance to stop him, and then seeing aggression spread all over the world.
“Let’s do the right thing, let’s learn something from history.”
Zelensky accuses Putin of being a ‘thug’ after Navalny death
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has referenced the death of Alexei Navalny during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, branding Vladimir Putin a “thug”.
He told attendees: “Putin kills whoever he wants, be it an opposition leader, or anyone else who seems as the target exactly to him.
“After the murder of Alexei Navalny, it’s absurd to perceive Putin as a supposedly legitimate head of a Russian state and he is a thug who maintains power through corruption and violence.”
Speaking ahead of the two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said: “He has just yesterday tried to send us all a clear message as the Munich Security Conference opened, Putin murdered another opposition leader.
“So please, let’s not fear Putin’s defeat and the destruction of his regime. Let’s instead work together to destroy what he stands for. It is his fate to lose, not the fate of the rules based world order to vanish.”
He told attendees: “Do not ask Ukraine when the war will end. Ask yourselves why Putin is still able to continue it.”
Watch: Alexei Navalny vigil held outside Russian embassy in London
Crowds gathered at a vigil for Alexei Navalny outside the Russian embassy in London on Friday 16 February. You can watch the demonstration below.
Britain has joined other Western countries in condemning the Kremlin after Russia’s federal prison service said in a statement that the 47-year-old politician and anti-corruption campaigner had died.
Trubites to Alexei Navalny removed overnight by unidentified authorities
Floral tributes to Alexei Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe who died on Friday in a Russian penal colony, were removed overnight by groups of unidentified people while police watched, videos on Russian social media show.
More than 100 people were detained in eight cities across Russia after they came to lay flowers in memory of Mr Navalny, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political repression in Russia.
On Saturday, police blocked access to a memorial in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk and detained several people there as well as in another Siberian city, Surgut, OVD-Info said.
Video shared on social media from Novosibirsk showed people sticking red flowers upright in the snow under the watchful eye of police who blocked access to the memorial with ticker tape.
In Moscow, flowers were removed overnight from a memorial near the headquarters of Russia's Federal Security Service by a large group while police looked on, a video showed.
No independent confirmation of Navalny's death yet, associates say: 'We cannot trust Putin'
Alexei Navalny's associates have stressed they haven't received independent confirmation of his death in the reports that came from Russia's penitentiary officials.
His close ally Ivan Zhdanov said authorities "must notify the relatives" within 24 hours, but there have been no such notifications.
Navalny's wife, Yulia Navalnaya, appearing at the Munich conference, said she did not know whether to believe the official Russian announcement because "we cannot trust Putin and the Putin government. They always lie."
"But if this is true, I want Putin and everyone around Putin, Putin's friends, his government, to know that they will bear responsibility for what they did to our country, to my family and to my husband. And this day will come very soon," she said.
Yulia Navalnaya, wife of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, speaking at the 60th Munich Security Conference (MSC) at the 'Bayerischer Hof' hotel in Munich, Germany on Friday
'He was scared that day. You could see it in his eyes'
A documentarian who spent two months following Mr Navalny before his arrest has shed light on his fateful decision to return to Russia.
"It’s very easy with our 20-20 hindsight to criticize that decision, especially in [light] of today’s horrific news. But that was Navalny’s decision to make.
"It was incredibly brave, and courageous, and was motivated by his patriotism. And I think history will be litigating that decision for a very long time."
Mr Roher also offered fascinating and sometimes comical memories from his time with the opposition leader such as when the politician questioned his habit of sketching while he worked.
When Mr Roher explained that he had ADHD and that it helped him focus, Mr Navalny turned to his wife and said: "Oh, it's so nice that we hired a director with special needs."
Mr Roher described his subject as savvy about filmmaking, with a keen knowledge of American TV shows such as Breaking Bad, who reflexively used humour to defuse his nervousness.
“He was scared that day," said Mr Roher of the opposition leader's final flight back to Moscow in January 2021. "You could see it in his eyes and I hope that the film captures that.
"He outwardly projects a resoluteness and an assuredness, but if you look into his eyes, it’s clear that he’s nervous. And that’s very human."
Trump's silence on Navalny's death draws flak from Nikki Haley
While a flurry of reactions has come in from international leaders after Alexei Navalny's death, former president Donald Trump has remained silent so far, prompting criticism from his Republican rival Nikki Haley.
Joe Biden has blamed "Putin and his thugs" for the death of Russia's biggest opposition leader, but Mr Trump on Friday continued with his attack on Mr Biden without mentioning anything about Navalny.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump wrote: “America is no longer respected because we have an incompetent president who is weak and doesn’t understand what the World is thinking."
"I am the only one who can bring Peace, Prosperity, and Stability like I did during my first term."
His rival for the presidential race, Nikki Haley slammed the former president for his amiable relationship with Vladimir Putin and remaining silent.
"Donald Trump continues to side with Vladimir Putin - a man who kills his political opponents, holds American journalists hostage, and has never hidden his desire to destroy America," Ms Haley said in an official statement.
In a separate post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Haley wrote: “Putin murdered his political opponent and Trump hasn’t said a word after he said he would encourage Putin to invade our allies. He has, however, posted 20+ times on social media about his legal drama and fake polls."
Muscovites attending a makeshift memorial for Mr Navalny have lauded him as a "symbol of hope" and a courageous figure.
In an interview with the French news agency AFP, Valeria, a tour guide, described Mr Navalny as "a symbol of opposition a symbol of hope for some brighter future for Russia".
Now, she added, "there's a feeling that with his death, this hope dies. If there had been still been any hope left, it is even less now than it was before."
Vladimir, a retired psychologist whose voice appeared to falter with sorrow as he spoke, said that Mr Navalny had been "a fundamental aspect of life for us".
"His courage was seen under many different circumstances. Of course, it's very tough," he said.
Other Moscow residents were more sanguine. "Anything can happen in life. I think it's fate, honestly," a woman named Tatania said, as quoted by CNN.
A man named Mikhail expressed happiness at Mr Navalny's death, saying that "enemies" of Russia "should be dealt with, the sooner the better."
The Ukrainian army withdrew its troops from the devastated town of Avdiivka in Donetsk to avoid encirclement and save the lives of its troops, the army’s commander-in-chief has said.
In a short statement posted on Facebook, Ukrainian commander Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said he had made the decision to avoid encirclement and “preserve the lives and health of servicemen.” He added that troops were moving to “more favourable lines.”
“Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units, inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and equipment.
“We are taking measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions,” the statement read.
Russian forces had improved their positions on the front lines in four different areas, including in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Russia’s defence ministry has said, according to its Russian news agencies.
The claim, which has not been independently verified, comes after Ukrainian troops withdrew from the devastated town of Avdiivka. The retreat paves the way for Russia’s biggest advance since May 2023 when it captured the city of Bakhmut.
The withdrawal comes as Ukrainian fronline troops are under compounding pressures, with exhausted ranks facing a shortage of artillery shells – a problem worsened by the stalling of a large US funding package.
The Ukrainian army withdrew its troops from the devastated town of Avdiivka in Donetsk to avoid encirclement and save the lives of its troops, the army’s commander-in-chief has said.
In a short statement posted on Facebook, Ukrainian commander Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said he had made the decision to avoid encirclement and “preserve the lives and health of servicemen.” He added that troops were moving to “more favourable lines.”
“Our soldiers performed their military duty with dignity, did everything possible to destroy the best Russian military units, inflicted significant losses on the enemy in terms of manpower and equipment.
“We are taking measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions,” the statement read.
Following reports of Alexei Navalny’s death on Friday, six Russians told the Guardian what they believe his death will mean for Russia’s future.
His death sent waves of anger and despair through the ranks of his supporters. Some saw his popularity as limited to a certain demographic, while for others, he was a symbolic figure who united the demographic.
“How long will the world let Russia be like this?” That was the question Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked world leaders on Saturday as he underlined the threat Russia’s war poses to nations beyond Ukraine.
Speaking at the the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskiy underlined that Ukraine can still win the war and that it was vital for the world that it does. He called for security to be made a “reality again”, warning that “there is no one for whom the ongoing war in Europe does not pose a threat”.
He warned that Ukraine’s shortage of weapons was strengthening Russia. “Unfortunately, keeping Ukraine in an artificial deficit of weapons, particularly in deficit of artillery and long-range capabilities, allows Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war,” he said.
He concluded his speech with a plea: “Please, do not ask Ukraine when the war will end. Ask yourself, why is Putin still able to continue it.”
Here’s a look at what it’s like for those marking Alexei Navalny’s death in Russia, in sharp contrast to the protests outwith the country.
Russian police have detained more than 100 people at memorials for Navalny, AFP reports, citing the figure to the OVD-Info rights group.
The number includes 64 in Saint Petersburg, OVD-Info said, while 11 were detained in the capital Moscow, and others in the cities of Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don and Tver.
Authorities in Moscow on Friday said they were aware of calls online “to take part in a mass rally in the centre of Moscow” and warned people against attending. There are strict anti-dissent laws in Russia, and authorities have been particularly hardline in policing shows of support for Navalny.
It comes after a video emerged showing an activist being detained in Moscow after she held up a protest sign near a site where people were laying flowers in memory of Navalny:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, has taken the stage at the Munich Security Conference.
My colleague Lili Bayer is covering his speech, as part of the wider conference, over on our Europe blog. You can follow along here, and I’ll also be posting a brief summary of that when it’s done.
Protests against Alexei Navalny’s death took place in cities across Europe and beyond on Friday night, with some demonstrators branding Vladimir Putin a “killer” and demanding accountability.
Protesters, many of them Russians living abroad, gathered in Berlin, London, Vilnius, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, New York City, Geneva and The Hague, among others.
Good morning and welcome to our coverage with the main news overnight being the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the devastated town of Avdiivka in Donetsk.
As the two-year mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches, Ukrainian troops are under pressure along the frontline, with depleted and exhausted ranks and a shortage of artillery shells that has been exacerbated by the stalling of a large US funding package. The loss of Avdiivka paves the way for Russia’s biggest advance since May 2023 when it captured the city of Bakhmut. You can read our full story here.
In other developments:
The US president, Joe Biden, led a wave of global outrage over Friday’s death in Russia of the opposition leader and pro-democracy activist Alexei Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics, who was serving a lengthy prison term in an Arctic penal colony. Biden blamed Navalny’s death on Putin “and his thugs”. The European Union said Navalny was “slowly murdered” by the Putin regime and it would be held accountable.
At least 73 protesters were arrested at vigilsand other celebrations of Navalny’s life in numerous Russian cities, human rights observers said. Mourners and protesters also gathered across several cities in Europe and the US.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the US should show restraint before accusing the country of causing Navalny’s death.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russians who voted for Putinat elections next monthshould realise they were voting for a murderer. “The events tell (us) that Putin is a murderer and this is not rhetoric,” Zelenskiy told a news conference in Paris,
Zelenskiy signed a security pact with France on Friday, hours after securing a similar deal with Germanyhailed by its chancellor, Olaf Scholz, as a “historic step” to lock in support for Kyiv in its battle against Russia. Both agreements were part of Zelenskiy’s drive to shore up help for his forces in Avdiivka. The 10-year agreement with France included a French pledge for up to €3bn (£2.6bn/$3.2bn) in aid for 2024, officials said. On Saturday, Zelenskiy will address the Munich Security Conference, taking place against a backdrop of conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East and debate over the future of Nato.
