Russia pursues Navalny supporters, one year after opposition leader's death

FILE PHOTO: Lawyers Igor Sergunin, Alexei Liptser and Vadim Kobzev, who represented Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, attend a court hearing on charges of taking part in an extremist organisation, in the town of Petushki in the Vladimir Region, Russia January 17, 2025. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Last August, a middle-aged Russian woman with her face covered walked onto Red Square in Moscow and, in the shadow of the Kremlin, scattered handfuls of coloured rubber balls on the cobblestones below.

Scrawled on the balls in pencil were slogans: "Freedom for political prisoners", "For our and your freedom" and "Hi, it's Navalny" - the last one the well-known catchphrase of Alexei Navalny, Russia's most famous opposition politician who died mysteriously in an Arctic penal colony one year ago on Sunday.