Aleksei Sabelsky is a correspondent for Current Time, a Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.
Organizers of a conference of independent Russian lawmakers have been sentenced after police broke up the event, claiming it violated new anti-COVID restrictions. The lawmakers deny they broke the rules, and say they were put in place at the last minute to stop the opposition from organizing.
In the last two rounds of local elections around Russia, candidates opposed to the ruling United Russia party made striking gains, despite what observers called unfair, manipulated votes. Now they say their colleagues and other officials are punishing them for doing what they were elected to do.
