Russian President Vladimir Putin has sharply criticized the organizers of unsanctioned mass protests that call on minors to participate in them.
“In no case should minors be pushed forward. This is what terrorists do when they drive women and children ahead of them. Here the focus is shifting a little, but in essence, it is the same, ”Putin said at a meeting with students. He is quoted by Interfax.
“All events of this kind … – no one should resort to them, trying to defend any of their ambitious goals and objectives, especially in the field of politics. This is not how the policy is done – at least, it is responsible, ”the head of state added.
“I want to emphasize: all people have the right to express their point of view within the framework provided by law. Anything that goes beyond the law is not just counterproductive, but dangerous, ”the Russian leader said.
The President mentioned the collapse of the Russian Empire and the collapse of the USSR as examples of the “swinging state”, from which its organizers suffered, “and those people who had nothing to do with it.”
He recalled the fate of the participants in the storming of the Capitol on January 6 in Washington. “As one FBI executive said,“ We have long arms. We’ll get everyone, we’ll catch everyone, we’ll put everyone in prison. ” From fifteen to twenty-five years, as for domestic terrorism. After all, they also came out with political slogans, but outside the framework of the law. Why should everything be allowed outside the framework of the law? No, ”Putin stressed.
The President recalled how tanks fired at the building of the Supreme Council in 1993 and stressed that “young people do not even know this” and that for them those events are “like Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow in 1812”. He urged “older people” to remember this and not to allow it in any way.
On January 23, unauthorized street actions were held in a number of Russian cities in support of the arrested politician Alexei Navalny.
