The offices of Open Russia in St. Petersburg were evacuated during the presentation of Ilya Yashin, the Deputy Chairman of the People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS).  Yashin was presenting his report, “The threat to national security”, which detailed the situation in Chechnya and the life of its leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.  This was reported to Dozhd on the 25th of February by the co-chair of PARNAS' St. Petersburg division, Natalia Gryaznevich.

Yashin had already presented the report and was in the middle of answering questions when the police arrived.  They ordered him to leave the room, explaining that they had received reports that there was a bomb in the office.  However, according to Gryaznevich, people from other parts of the building were not asked to leave.

Nearly 70 people were present at the presentation.

There were several attempts to disrupt another presentation by Yashin in Moscow on the 23rd of February.  At the start of it, an unknown person threw fake dollar bills at Yashin.  Later, an anonymous phone call was received stating that there was a bomb in the building.  This threat was not identified.

Yashin’s report consists of five chapters.  It details Kadyrov’s coming to power, his “private” army, his friends and enemies, the Chechen regime, the funds of Chechnya and why Kadyrov is “a threat to national security”.  It also discusses how Chechnya allegedly became a supplier of fighters to the so-called “Islamic State”.    

When commenting on the report, Kadyrov said that it contained “nothing but prattle”.

  Russia, opposition

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