“Putin = killer” read a large banner as dozens of Russian immigrants honored the memory of Alexei Navalny near the Tower Bridge in downtown Sacramento on Tuesday night.
Navalny died earlier this month in a remote Arctic penal colony. His funeral will take place on Friday in Moscow, the Associated Press reports.
The Sacramento region is home to about 20,000 Russian immigrants — many associated with the country’s dissident movement — as well as a sizable population of native Ukrainians.
Tuesday’s candlelight vigil again brought both populations together as they stood in solidarity against two years of war in Ukraine after Russian’s invasion of that country. Many banners and signs also remembered Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader who was killed on a bridge near the Kremlin in 2015.
“Since we have this great opportunity to be vocal and stay vocal in this county – which is true democracy – we must do that,” said Iana Trotsiuk, a member of the group Voices of Russian Opposition. “In our homeland, people were silenced. There is no more freedom of speech.”
Iana Trotsiuk holds a sign in memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic penal colony earlier this month, at a candlelight vigil along the Sacramento waterfront on Tuesday. Renée C. Byer/[email protected]
A sign alleges that Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed war crimes during a candlelight vigil in downtown Sacramento on Tuesday to mourn the loss of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in an Arctic penal colony earlier this month. Renée C. Byer/[email protected]
Candles illuminate photographs of Russian opposition leaders, including Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic penal colony earlier this month, and Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered on a Moscow bridge in 2015, during a vigil near the Tower Bridge in Sacramento on Tuesday. Renée C. Byer/[email protected]
Demonstrators hold signs marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during a candlelight vigil near the Tower Bridge in Sacramento on to mourn the loss of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in an Arctic penal colony earlier this month. Renée C. Byer/[email protected]
Parents protest the deaths of Russian opposition leaders, holding pictures of Alexei Navalny and Boris Nemtsov, with their children at a candlelight vigil along the Sacramento waterfront on Tuesday. Renée C. Byer/[email protected]
A sign calls Russian President Vladimir Putin a killer at a candlelight vigil in downtown Sacramento on Tuesday to mourn the loss of Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in an Arctic penal colony earlier this month. Renée C. Byer/[email protected]
