Russia detains thousands of Navalny supporters as protests rage on for second week

Russians numbering in the tens-of-thousands have risen up in protests to free opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalny for the second week in a row of violent confrontation with law enforcement.

Some 4,500 protesters in 86 cities, including Aleksei A. Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, are now detained by the Russian government, the New York Times reports.

Police have deployed in the heart of Moscow to meet the protesters in what the Times calls the "most imposing shows of police force seen in the country’s recent history."

Protesters reportedly chanted "All for one and one for all!" as they marched through the streets towards the jail where Navalny is being held.

Crowds, though slightly smaller than last week's, arrived in the thousands in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, and others. Though the crowds were not as formidable, law enforcement had stepped up its presence and readiness to clash with columns of Navalny supporters.  

The scenes from the protests have been very violent and shocking.

The persistence of the protests for two consecutive weeks demonstrates the nationwide discontent with the reign of Vladmir Putin and his political hard power approach.

Mr. Navalny, a 44-year-old anticorruption activist, fell into a coma after being poisoned last summer. He recovered in Germany, but when he returned home to Russia he was detained by police and imprisoned.

A Tuesday court hearing resolved in Navalny possibly serving years in prison for the stated reason of parole violations stemming from a 2014 embezzlement case.

Navalny reportedly spoke from the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center in Moscow Thursday, telling his supporters, "The majority are on our side. Let's wake them up," according to Aljazeera.

The Kremlin has deemed any protest demonstrations for his release to be illegal and has threatened those participating in them with jail time, according to the Times.