“If they really wanted to, they would most likely have got it,” Putin said.
Despite the Kremlin sacking Mr Navalny and his supporters as part of As a misguided minority, the opposition leader has shown that he can attract the attention of millions of people in Russia.
Shortly after returning to Moscow, Mr Navalny’s team published an investigation describing a secret palace on the shores of the Black Sea allegedly built for Mr Putin and paid for by state-owned companies. Navalny’s ally Lyubov Sobol said the video version of the investigation was viewed by more than 100 million people on YouTube, with 70 percent viewing from Russia. On Monday, Mr Putin denied Mr Navalny’s allegations and called the video investigation “boring”.
While he was in prison, Mr. Navalny was dragged out of daily political life in his cell, said Olga Mikhailova, his lawyer. For example, he was unaware that several members of his team had been arrested and that his home had been ransacked by the police.
According to OVD-Info, an activist group tracking arrests during protests, Russian authorities arrested more than 4,000 people across the country last week in protests demanding the release of Mr Navalny. At least seven criminal cases against protesters have opened, Moscow police said in a statement, warning people not to participate in protests that have not been sanctioned.
When his supporters are under increasing pressure from the authorities and speak on the video link from prison on Thursday, Mr Navalny tries to lift their spirits.
“They are not and never will be masters of our country,” said Navalny, referring to Mr. Puting and his government. “Lots of people, tens of millions, agree with me,” he said. “And we will never allow these people to conquer and rob our country.”
