Navalny Headquarters Штабы Навального | |
---|---|
Leader | Vacant |
Chairman | Leonid Volkov |
Founder | Alexei Navalny |
Founded | 4 February 2017 4 October 2022 |
Dissolved | 26 April 2021 |
Succeeded by | Smart Voting initiative |
Membership (2017) | 199,836 |
Ideology | Liberal democracy Anti-corruption Anti-Putinism |
Political position | Centre |
Colours | Blue Red |
Election symbol | |
Website | |
shtab | |
The Navalny Headquarters (Russian: Штабы Навального, romanized: Shtaby Naval'nogo) is a Russian underground organization (since 2022) and former network of regional organizations (in 2017–2021) founded by opposition leader Alexei Navalny as part of the 2017 presidential campaign. It lasted until April 2021, when the liquidation of the headquarters was announced in connection with the demand of the Moscow prosecutor's office to recognize the public movement "Navalny Headquarters" as an extremist organization.[1] It was re-established in October 2022.[2]
At the peak of Navalny's presidential campaign, 81 headquarters operated in the regions of Russia, including 11 "people's" ones — opened on the initiative of local residents on their own.[3][4] After the 2018 presidential election, headquarters continued to work in 45 main regions, their profile changed to a regional politicianу.[5]
In December 2016, Alexei Navalny announced the start of the Navalny 2018 presidential campaign. As part of it, the creation of regional campaign headquarters across the country was announced, in which it was planned to collect signatures for the nomination of an oppositionist for president and organize campaigning for a candidate in the regions with the involvement of volunteers[6] The first headquarters was opened in St. Petersburg on February 4, 2017.[7] Its opening took place with the participation of Navalny himself: he held a press conference and met with volunteers, which later became a constant practice.
The opening of regional headquarters was often accompanied by problems: pressure was put on renters of premises,[8][9] headquarters were vandalized,[10] Navalny himself missed openings several times due to administrative arrests[11] and became a victim of attacks.[12] Already after the opening, many headquarters were subjected to attacks by pro-government activists and vandals,[13][14][15] visits by security officials[16] (sometimes with the seizure of campaign materials and equipment[17][18]) or arrests of employees.[19][20]
After the end of the election campaign and the “voters' strike”, headquarters in the least significant regions were closed, while some of them continued to work as “people's headquarters” for some time. Headquarters in 45 key regions continued to work, reformatted into regional political organizations.[21]
In August 2019, the Investigative Committee opened a case on the laundering of 1 billion rubles by the Anti-Corruption Foundation.[22] As part of this case, several waves of searches were carried out at the FBK office, Navalny's headquarters throughout Russia, their employees and volunteers, and the accounts of legal entities and individuals were blocked.[23][24] The head of the network of headquarters, Leonid Volkov, stated that the case was initiated with the aim of defeating Navalny's political organization, and also emphasized that the Anti-Corruption Fund, against which the case was initiated, has no legal relationship to Navalny's headquarters.[25] Despite the pressure associated with the criminal case, Navalny's headquarters did not stop working.
On April 16, 2021, the Moscow prosecutor's office filed a lawsuit to recognize Navalny's headquarters and the FBK as extremist organizations.[26] On April 26, the prosecutor's office decided to suspend the activities of the “Navalny Headquarters public movement” (which never legally existed).[27][28] On April 29, the head of the network of headquarters, Leonid Volkov, announced that the headquarters were officially dissolved in order to avoid persecution of employees and activists under articles on extremism. At the same time, it was announced that some headquarters would be reorganized into independent regional political organizations not associated with the FBK and Alexei Navalny.[29]
On June 9, 2021, the Moscow City Court, in a closed session, recognized the "public movement "Navalny Headquarters"" and the FBK as extremist organizations and banned their activities in Russia.[30] By this time, the headquarters had been disbanded for more than a month. On August 4, the First Appellate court upheld the decision to recognize the organizations as extremist, endowing the Moscow City Court's earlier decision with legal force.[31]
During the process of recognizing Navalny's headquarters as an extremist organization, many of their ex-coordinators left the country due to the threat of persecution, and some of those who remained in Russia were under investigation. 15 former coordinators continued to engage in politics, announcing their nomination to the State Duma or local authorities.[32] In connection with the “law against the FBK” adopted on June 4, 2021, none of them were allowed to participate in the elections as a candidate (or was forced to stop the campaign).[33]
On November 9, 2021, Lilia Chanysheva, the former coordinator of Navalny’s city headquarters, was detained in Ufa and subsequently sent to a pre-trial detention center.[34] She was accused of leading an extremist community, despite her resignation from the post of coordinator before the organization was recognized as extremist (de facto applying Ex post facto law).[35] On December 28, searches were held at the premises of the ex-coordinators of the headquarters of Ksenia Fadeeva (Tomsk) and Zakhar Sarapulov (Irkutsk).[36] They were charged and banned from certain activities as a preventive measure.[37] On June 14, 2023, Chanysheva was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on charges of extremism, along with a fine of 400,000 rubles.[38]
The organization was re-established in October 2022, particularly to oppose Vladimir Putin, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and subsequent mobilization in Russia.[2]
Initially, Navalny's headquarters were deployed throughout Russia as part of the politician's presidential campaign to solve three main tasks: preparing for the collection of signatures, training observers and agitation.[39] They also hosted meetings of supporters and volunteers, trainings, seminars and other events.[40] In the summer of 2017, an active stage of street campaigning began in all cities where headquarters are present: campaign volunteers participated in "cubes" – pickets using a campaign structure in the form of a cube, which collected signatures of citizens for the nomination of Navalny as a presidential candidate in December 2017.[41] In the future, these signatures had to be verified and included in the official signature lists in a short time.[42] The headquarters also covered their own activities on social networks and on YouTube.
In 2017, regional headquarters organized protests announced by Navalny in their cities: March 26,[43] 12 June[44] and 7 October.[45] They tried to coordinate the events with the authorities, but in some cities people took to the streets without the permission of local administrations.[44] Headquarters provided legal and other assistance to detained protesters.[46]
On December 24, 2017, headquarters organized initiative groups in 20 cities to nominate Alexei Navalny as a candidate in the presidential elections.[47] On December 25, the Central Election Commission refused to register the politician as a candidate, in connection with which the Navalny team announced a "strike of voters", for which regional headquarters were reorganized.[48][49] The headquarters also organized observation of the presidential elections in key regions, including Chechnya,[50] known for large-scale electoral fraud,[51] the persecution of disloyal citizens and human rights violations.[52]
After the 2018 presidential election, the network of headquarters was reduced to 45 of the most successful and restructured to work on political projects, mainly on the local agenda.[53] Some headquarters continued to work in the "people's" mode – without funding from the federal headquarters. All active headquarters participated in the organization of protests until the closure of the network in April 2021, among them:
№ | Город | Opening date | Closing date | Opener | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Saint Petersburg | 2017 February 4 | 2021 April 26 | Alexei Navalny | |
2 | Novosibirsk | 2017 February 18 | |||
3 | Yekaterinburg | 2017 February 25 | |||
4 | Samara | 2017 March 3 | |||
5 | Ufa | 2017 March 4 | |||
6 | Kazan | 2017 March 5 | |||
7 | Nizhny Novgorod | 2017 March 6 | |||
8 | Tomsk | 2017 March 17 | |||
9 | Kemerovo | 2017 March 18 | |||
10 | Barnaul | 2017 March 20 | During the opening of the headquarters, Navalny was doused with green paint.[12] He worked after the completion of the presidential campaign until March 31, 2018.[54] Was restarted on September 3, 2019.[55] | ||
11 | Biysk | 2018 November 9 | After the end of the presidential campaign, he worked for 7 months as a "people's headquarters".[56] | ||
12 | Volgograd | 2017 March 24 | 2021 April 26 | ||
13 | Saratov | 2017 March 25 | |||
14 | Voronezh | 2017 April 7 | Leonid Volkov (Navalny was serving an administrative arrest on March 26 – April 10, 2017[57]) | ||
15 | Rostov-on-Don | 2017 April 8 | |||
16 | Krasnodar | ||||
17 | Stavropol | 2017 April 9 | 2020 August 4[58] | ||
18 | Tyumen | 2017 April 14 | 2021 April 26 | Alexei Navalny | |
19 | Chelyabinsk | 2017 April 15 | Navalny, after the opening of the headquarters, spoke at a rally of opponents of the construction of Tominsky Mining and Processing Plant.[59] | ||
20 | Vladimir | 2017 April 21 | 2018 November 9[60] | После окончания президентской кампании проработал 6 месяцев и 28 дней в качестве «народного штаба».[60] В марте 2021 года был анонсирован перезапуск штаба для участия в избирательной кампании в Госдуму, не состоявшийся в связи с требованием прокураторы Москвы о признании штабов Навального экстремистской организацией.[61] | |
21 | Ivanovo | 2020 March 4[62] | |||
22 | Kostroma | 2017 April 22 | 2020 October 13[63] | ||
23 | Yaroslavl | 2021 April 26 | |||
24 | Vologda | 2017 April 23 | 2018 April 3[64] | After the end of the presidential campaign, the headquarters continued political activities for some time.[64] | |
25 | Cherepovets | 2018 April 1[65] | |||
26 | Astrakhan | 2017 April 28 | 2018 March 31[66] | ||
27 | Krasnoyarsk | 2017 May 12 | 2021 April 26 | Leonid Volkov (Navalny was recovering from eye surgery in Barcelona[67]) | |
28 | Khabarovsk | 2017 May 13 | |||
29 | Komsomolsk-on-Amur | 2017 May 14 | 2018 March 31[68] | Alexei Navalny | |
30 | Vladivostok | 2017 May 15 | 2021 April 26 | ||
31 | Penza | 2017 May 19 | |||
32 | Saransk | 2017 May 20 | 2019 November 5[69] | The opening of the headquarters took place in the field due to pressure on the sites where a meeting with volunteers was planned.[70] On March 31, 2018, the headquarters lost its premises,[71] but continued to work until October 2, 2018.[72] Was restarted on July 30, 2019[73] and worked until November 5.[69] | |
33 | Ulyanovsk | 2018 March 31[74] | |||
34 | Yoshkar-Ola | 2017 May 21 | 2018 March 31[75] | ||
35 | Cheboksary | 2021 April 26 | |||
36 | Tambov | 2017 May 26 | The opening of the headquarters took place in the hangar of the wholesale base due to pressure on the sites where the meeting with volunteers was planned.[9] | ||
37 | Ryazan | 2019 October 18[76] | Worked after the end of the presidential campaign until October 1, 2018.[77] Was restarted on September 2, 2019,[78] closed due to loss of equipment and premises on October 18.[76] | ||
38 | Tula | 2017 May 27 | 2018 March 30[79] | ||
39 | Kaluga | 2018 October 2 | After the end of the presidential campaign, he worked for six months as a "people's headquarters" without premises.[80] | ||
40 | Pskov | 2017 May 28 | 2021 April 26 | ||
41 | Veliky Novgorod | 2018 March 30[81] | |||
42 | Tver | 2017 May 29 | 2021 April 26 | ||
43 | Smolensk | Worked after the end of the presidential campaign until October 2, 2018.[82] Was restarted on May 6, 2019[83] and operated until December 2019. | |||
44 | Moscow | 2021 April 26 | Headquarters team | The opening was canceled several times due to pressure on the venues where a meeting with volunteers was planned.[84] The headquarters started working on May 29, 2017 without the official opening and participation of Navalny. On May 31, he held a spontaneous meeting with volunteers there.[85] | |
45 | Perm | 2017 June 9 | Alexei Navalny | ||
46 | Izhevsk | 2017 June 10 | After the end of the presidential campaign, he worked for six months as a "people's headquarters" for 5 months and 13 days.[86] October 25, 2018 resumed work as a "people's headquarters".[87] | ||
47 | Bratsk | 2017 June 17 | 2018 March 31[88] | Leonid Volkov[89][90][91] | |
48 | Irkutsk | 2021 April 26 | |||
49 | Omsk | 2017 June 18 | |||
49* | Tara | 2017 June 18[91] | (planned)The opening did not take place due to pressure on local supporters. | ||
50 | Oryol | 2017 June 20 | 2018 March 30[92] | Headquarters team (Navalny was serving an administrative arrest on June 12 – July 7, 2017[93]) | |
51 | Kirov | 2017 June 21 | 2021 April 26 | Local supporters | Worked after the end of the presidential campaign until March 26, 2018.[94] It was restarted on April 1, 2021[95] and worked until April 26. |
52* | Zhukovsky | 2017 June 27[96] | [3] | "People's Headquarters" was headed by Alexey Gaskarov – a former defendant in the "Bolotnaya Square case".[97] | |
53* | Buzuluk | 2017 July 18[98] | (later)The People's Headquarters closed before the end of the presidential campaign. | ||
54* | Vyksa | [3] | |||
55* | Yessentuki | 2017 August 26[99] | (or later)The People's Headquarters closed before the end of the presidential campaign. | ||
56* | Gorno-Altaysk | 2017 June 30[100] | [3] | ||
57 | Novokuznetsk | 2017 July 3 | 2018 July 20[101] | Headquarters team (Navalny was serving an administrative arrest on June 12 – July 7, 2017[93]) | |
58 | Kurgan | 2021 April 26 | Worked after the end of the presidential campaign until March 30, 2018.[102] It was restarted on May 6, 2019 and worked until April 26, 2021.[103] | ||
60 | Kaliningrad | 2017 July 6 | |||
59 | Orenburg | 2020 June 10[104] | Leonid Volkov[105] | After the end of the presidential campaign (since April 10, 2018), he worked for more than a year as a "people's headquarters".[106] It was restarted as an official headquarters on July 15, 2019[104] and worked until June 10, 2020.[107] | |
61 | Bryansk | 2017 July 14[108] | 2020 November 10[109] | Headquarters team | Worked after the end of the presidential campaign until March 31, 2018.[110] It was restarted as an official headquarters on August 24, 2019[111] and worked until November 10, 2020.[109] |
62 | Syktyvkar | 2017 July 19[112] | 2018 March 31[113] | ||
63 | Chita | 2017 July 24[114] | 2018 March 30[115] | In March 2021, the restart of the headquarters was announced to participate in the election campaign to the State Duma, which did not take place due to the demand of the Moscow prosecutors to recognize Navalny's headquarters as an extremist organization.[61] | |
64 | Murmansk | 2017 July 26 | 2021 April 26 | Leonid Volkov (via video link)[116] | |
65* | Berezniki | 2017 July 29[117][118] | 2018 July 11[119] | Local supporters | |
66* | Vorkuta | [3] | |||
67* | Magadan | 2017 July 30[120] | [3] | ||
68 | Sochi | 2017 July 31[121] | 2018 March 31[122] | Headquarters team | |
69 | Kursk | 2017 August 1[123] | [124] | In March 2021, the restart of the headquarters was announced to participate in the election campaign to the State Duma, which did not take place due to the demand of the Moscow prosecutors to recognize Navalny's headquarters as an extremist organization.[61] | |
70 | Belgorod | 2017 August 2[125] | 2021 April 26 | After the liquidation of the headquarters, its former coordinator founded the independent political movement "Apoliticality destroys".[126] | |
71 | Orsk | 2017 August 7[127] | 2018 March 31[128] | ||
72 | Tolyatti | 2017 August 11[129][130] | 2018 March 30[131] | Leonid Volkov | |
73 | Ulan-Ude | 2018 November 11[132] | Headquarters team | After the end of the presidential campaign, he worked for 7 months and 11 days as a "people's headquarters".[132] In March 2021, the restart of the headquarters was announced to participate in the election campaign to the State Duma, which did not take place due to the demand of the Moscow prosecutors to recognize Navalny's headquarters as an extremist organization.[61] | |
74* | Korolyov | 2017 August 11[133] | 2018 March 31[134] | Local supporters | |
75 | Arkhangelsk | 2017 August 15[135] | 2021 April 26 | Leonid Volkov (via video link)[135] | |
76* | Tosno | 2017 August 19[136] | 2018 January 30[137] | Local supporters | The closure was accompanied by publications in the pro-government media, which reported criticism of the coordinators against the federal headquarters of the campaign.[137] |
77 | Petrozavodsk | 2017 August 28[138] | 2018 March 31[139] | Headquarters team | |
78 | Yakutsk | 2017 September 2[140] | [3] | Leonid Volkov (via video link)[140] | |
79 | Lipetsk | 2017 September 3[141][142] | 2021 April 26 | Headquarters team, regional manager[141] | The opening was canceled several times due to pressure on the owners of the premises and eventually took place in the open air. Journalist Andrei Loshak participated in it, among others. Worked after the end of the presidential campaign until March 29, 2018,[143] resumed work as a "people's headquarters" on April 6[144] |
80 | Stary Oskol | 2018 March 31[145] | Leonid Volkov (via video link)[146] | ||
81* | Magnitogorsk | 2017 September 10[147] | 2019 February 28[148] | Local supporters | |
82* | Yeysk | 2017 October 28[149] | 2018 April 16[150] | ||
83* | Mytishchi | 2017 November 18[151] | 2018 April 15[152] | (later)||
84* | Goryachy Klyuch | 2017 December 11[153] | (not later than)2018 January 29[154] | The closure was accompanied by publications in the pro-government media, which reported criticism of the coordinators against the federal headquarters of the campaign.[155][156] | |
85* | Kalininsk | 2017 December 7[157] | 2018 February 1[158] | ||
86* | Velikiye Luki | 2017 December 19[159] | [3] | ||
|