Russia issues international arrest warrant for Volkov, Navalny ally

Russia has issued an international arrest warrant for one of Alexei Navalny’s allies, Leonid Volkov, who is currently based outside Russia, the Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.

Volkov has urged Russians to gather near their homes for a brief Valentine’s Day protest this weekend, shining their mobile phone torches and lighting candles in heart shapes to flood social media.

Alexie Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption investigator and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, was arrested on 17 January after returning from Germany.

Last week, a Moscow court ruled that while Mr Navalny was recovering in Germany from his exposure to novichok poisoning, he violated the probation terms of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money laundering conviction and ordered him to serve two years and eight months in prison.

His arrest and jailing sparked nationwide protests, with tens of thousands of people rallying across Russia for two weekends in a row in the largest outpouring of discontent in years.

Navalny says he is being persecuted for political reasons.

Reuters