Russia moves to extinguish pro-Navalny 'flashlight' protests

Moscow: When the team of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged people to come out to their residential courtyards and shine their cellphone flashlights in a display of unity, many responded with jokes and skepticism. After two weekends of nationwide demonstrations, the new protest format looked to some like a retreat.

But not to Russian authorities, who moved vigorously to extinguish the illuminated protests planned for Sunday.

Officials accused Navalny's allies of acting on NATO's instructions. Kremlin-backed TV channels warned that flashlight rallies were part of major uprisings around the world. State news agencies cited unnamed sources saying a terrorist group was plotting attacks during unapproved mass protests.

The suppression attempts represent a change of tactics for the authorities who once tried to weaken Navalny's influence by erasing him.

Kremlin-controlled TV channels used to largely ignore protests called by Navalny. Russian President Vladimir Putin has never mentioned his most prominent critic by name. State news agencies referred to the politician and anti-corruption investigator as a blogger in the rare stories they ran mentioning him.

Navalny went from a person whose name is not allowed to be mentioned to the main subject of discussion on state TV, Maria Pevchikh, head of investigations at Navalny's Foundations for Fighting Corruption, said in a YouTube video Friday.