Twitter restores Navalny’s widow’s account after storm of criticism
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Elon Musk has restored Alexei Navalny’s widow’s Twitter account after the billionaire received a torrent of criticism for suspending it.
Yulia Navalnaya set up an account on the social media platform, now known as X, on Monday and amassed almost 100,000 followers in 24 hours.
Before her page was blocked, she shared a video accusing Vladimir Putin of killing her husband along with a moving clip of her mother-in-law pleading with the Russian leader to release his body.
Mr Navalny, 47, the imprisoned opponent of Mr Putin, died in the Arctic jail where he was serving a three-decade sentence on Friday after he “felt ill” and lost consciousness, the prison service said.
On Tuesday, her page was briefly inaccessible. A notice said it had been “suspended”, with a further note adding: “X suspends accounts which violate the X rules”. Her account was reinstated 45 minutes later.
The social network’s safety account later said its “defence mechanism against manipulation and spam mistakenly flagged” the account for breaching its rules.
“We unsuspended the account as soon as we became aware of the error, and will be updating the defence”, it wrote.
Since he bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, Mr Musk has insisted he is dedicated to “free speech” and has restored controversial accounts including that of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and former president Donald Trump.
Last week, Mr Musk said suggestions he is a Putin sympathiser were “absurd” after he urged Republican senators to oppose a Ukraine aid bill because “there is no way in hell” that Mr Putin could lose the war.
Following the suspension of Ms Navalnaya’s account, Mr Musk received a barrage of criticism.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation, an organisation established by Mr Navalny, wrote: “Hey Elon Musk! Please explain exactly which rules were violated by @yulia_navalnaya.”
Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, is among those in the West who have called on Mr Putin to be held accountable for his death.
Our platform's defense mechanism against manipulation and spam mistakenly flagged @yulia_navalnaya as violating our rules. We unsuspended the account as soon as we became aware of the error, and will be updating the defense.
— Safety (@Safety) February 20, 2024
The Kremlin has denied involvement and railed against suggestions the Russian President is behind his killing.
The final post on Ms Navalnaya’s account before it was temporarily taken down showed Mr Navalny’s mother outside the penal colony in which her son had died, calling on Mr Putin to release his body so she could bury him.
In the moving video, Lyudmila Navalnaya spoke to the camera in front of the prison as small snowflakes swirled in the air.
”For a fifth day I cannot see him, they aren’t giving me his body and don’t even tell me where he is,” Ms Navalnaya said.
”I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin. Resolving this issue depends on you alone. Let me finally see my son.
”I demand that Alexei’s body be released immediately so that I can bury him in a humane way.”
The suspension came as Ms Navalnaya, who is determined to continue her husband’s campaigning, urged the European Union not to recognise next month’s Russian elections.
”Putin killed my husband exactly a month before the so-called elections”, she told the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union, according to the transcript.
”These elections are fake, but Putin still needs them. For propaganda. He wants the whole world to believe that everyone in Russia supports and admires him. Don’t believe this propaganda,” she said on Monday.
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said Ms Navalnaya’s allegations against Mr Putin were “absolutely unfounded” and “boorish”.
The Telegraph has approached X for comment.
03:14 PM GMT
That’s all for today
Thank you for tuning in to today’s live blog. We’ll be back tomorrow to bring you all the latest updates from the war in Ukraine.
Key moments from today:
The mother of Alexei Navalny urged Vladimir Putin to release the body of her son immediately” in her first comments since his death in an Arctic prison.
Russian security services arrested an American woman on suspicion of “high treason” and raising funds for the Ukrainian army.
Russian forces are “taking advantage” of Western allies’ delays in providing Ukraine with additional military aid, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Russia has been accused of executing wounded Ukrainian soldiers following Kyiv’s retreat from Avdiivka.
02:55 PM GMT
Twitter ‘mistakenly flagged’ account of Navalny's widow
Twitter has said its defence mechanism “mistakenly flagged” the account of Alexei Navalny’s widow.
Our platform's defense mechanism against manipulation and spam mistakenly flagged @yulia_navalnaya as violating our rules. We unsuspended the account as soon as we became aware of the error, and will be updating the defense.
— Safety (@Safety) February 20, 2024
02:47 PM GMT
Navalny’s mother demands Putin to release son’s body ‘immediately’
The mother of Alexei Navalny urged Vladimir Putin to release the body of her son immediately” in her first comments since his death in an Arctic prison.
Lyudmila Navalnaya, Navalny’s mother, travelled to the remote IK-3 prison colony on Saturday, the morning after his death was announced, and has since been barred from seeing his body.
“I appeal to you, Vladimir Putin, the solution to the issue depends only on you,” she said in a video published by his team.
“Let me finally see my son. I demand that Alexei’s body be released immediately so that I can bury him in a humane way.”
Dressed in black and standing near the prison colony where her son spent his final weeks, she added: “For the fifth day, I cannot see him, they don’t give me his body and I am not even told where he is.”
02:00 PM GMT
Pictured: A Russian pilot fires rockets over Ukraine
01:59 PM GMT
Estonia thwarts ‘hybrid operation’ by Russia
Kaja Kallas, Estonia’s prime minister, has said her country successfully stopped a hybrid operation by Russia’s security services on Estonian territory after the arrest of 10 people last year.
“We know the Kremlin is targeting all of our democratic societies,” she wrote on Twitter, adding that her country’s response would be to “reveal their methods” and in turn deter them.
Estonia’s Internal Security Service (ISS) detained 10 people last year who were linked to a criminal investigation into the vandalisation of a car belonging to the country’s interior minister.
The ISS believed they acted on behalf of the Russian intelligence services.
Today, the ISS said the purpose of the hybrid operation was to “sow fear and create tension in Estonian society”.
Estonia has successfully stopped a hybrid operation by Russia's security services on our territory.
We know the Kremlin is targeting all of our democratic societies.
Our answer: be open and reveal their methods. This is the way to deter harmful actions and make us resilient.— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) February 20, 2024
01:24 PM GMT
Russia needs ‘period of rest’ after taking Avdiivka, says MoD
Russian forces require a “period of rest and refit” following their capture of Avdiivka, the Ministry of Defence reported.
Kremlin troops raised their flag over the Eastern Ukrainian city this weekend after Ukraine withdrew following months of fighting, in which Moscow lost more than 17,000 soldiers.
“It is likely that Russian forces lack the combat effectiveness to immediately exploit the capture of Avdiivka” the MoD said in its daily report. “In coming weeks Russia will likely seek to gradually extend its territorial control beyond Avdiivka.”
The ministry’s assessment echoes that of the Institute for the Study of War, who yesterday concluded that Russia will likely have to conduct an “operational pause” after taking Avdiivka or will have to “transfer additional reinforcements from other sectors of the front”.
01:07 PM GMT
Yulia Navalny's Twitter suspended
12:25 PM GMT
Ukraine forces on the front lines
12:11 PM GMT
FSB arrests US citizen for ‘treason’
Russian security services arrested an American woman on suspicion of “high treason” and raising funds for the Ukrainian army.
The FSB in the central Urals city of Yekaterinburg said it had “suppressed the illegal activities” of a 33-year-old woman, a resident of Los Angeles with dual Russian citizenship, and taken her into custody.
The woman detained on Tuesday was identified as Ksenia Karelina by the independent news website Mediazona. She is accused of collecting funds “used to purchase tactical medical items, equipment, means of destruction and ammunition” for the Ukrainian army, the FSB said, for which she faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
In addition, she is accused of repeatedly participating in public events in support of Ukraine in the US
Ms Karelina is reported to be married to an American and received US citizenship in 2021. She was detained on a trip back to Russia, where she graduated from Federal University in Yekaterinburg, to see her parents.
She is the latest American to be detained in Russia amid concerns Vladimir Putin is using foreign nationals as a bargaining tool.
12:01 PM GMT
Update: five killed in Russian drone attack
A Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s northerly Sumy region hit a residential building on Tuesday, killing five people, authorities said.
Citing updated data, the regional military administration said on the Telegram: “As a result of the hit, a family was killed: a mother and two sons, as well as two distant relatives.”
See post at 8.43 am for more details.
11:09 AM GMT
Polish farmers dump Ukrainian grain at border protests
Polish farmers have dumped supplies of Ukrainian grain at the border, further escalating tensions over cheap European grain imports.
Farmers blocked a railway track at the Medyka-Shehyni border crossing with Ukraine, dumping grain from a train, according to local reports.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Oleksandr Kubrakov condemned the emptying of Ukrainian grain on rail tracks as a “political provocation aimed at dividing our nations.”
The farmers today stepped up their month-long protest on the border with Ukraine by blocking almost almost all traffic in protest against EU measures that permit cheap grain imports from Ukraine, which they say are threatening their livelihoods by undercutting them.
Kyiv has accused the farmers of damaging Ukraine’s defence capabilities, with Volodymyr Zelensky saying the situation at the border demonstrated “the erosion of solidarity on a daily basis”.
He added that only five per cent of Ukraine’s agricultural exports passed through the border with Poland, adding that the dispute was more about politics than about grain.
This is the second time in a month that Polish has dumped grain at the border, with the previous incident forcing Poland’s agricultural minister to apologise. The ongoing tensions risk stoking further discontent between the allies.
⚡️On the morning of February 20, protesting Polish farmers at the border blocked the railway near the Medyka-Szehiny checkpoint and spilled part of the grain from a freight train onto the tracks, Suspilne reported.
📷: Suspilne pic.twitter.com/hb0rpjsJpo— KyivPost (@KyivPost) February 20, 2024
10:41 AM GMT
Putin gifts Kim Jong Un luxury £350,000 limousine
Vladimir Putin has sent Kim Jong Un a luxury limousine worth an estimated £350,000.
The North Korean leader took a shine to the black Aurus armoured car when he visited eastern Russia last year, prompting Putin to send him one as a present.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said: “When the head of the DPRK (North Korea) was at the Vostochny cosmodrome, he looked at this car, Putin showed it to him personally, and like many people, Kim liked this car.
“North Korea is our neighbour, our close neighbour, and we intend, and will continue, to develop our relations with all neighbours, including North Korea.”
Russia has stepped up ties with North Korea and other countries hostile to the US such as Iran since the start of the war with Ukraine.
The United States has accused North Korea of supplying Russia with artillery shells and missiles used in Ukraine. Moscow and Pyongyang deny the US accusations but vowed last year to deepen military relations.
The Russian-made limousine was delivered to Kim’s top aides on Feb 18, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said.
09:55 AM GMT
Russia ‘taking advantage’ of Western aid delays, says Zelensky
Russian forces are “taking advantage” of Western allies’ delays in providing Ukraine with additional military aid, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“The situation is extremely difficult in several parts of the frontline, where Russian troops have amassed maximum reserves,” Mr Zelensky said, following Monday’s visit to the frontline in northeastern Kupiansk. “They are taking advantage of the delays in aid to Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian president’s comments come after the loss of Avdiivka, Russia’s most significant offensive gain so far this year, and amid ongoing wrangling in Washington to secure more funding for Kyiv’s war effort.
Republicans in the US House of Representatives, swayed by Donald Trump, continue to oppose a $95 billion aid package voted for by the Senate that includes aid for Ukraine.
Joe Biden said yesterday he is willing to meet with Mike Johnson, the Republican House of Representatives Speaker, who has opposed the bill on the grounds that it fails to address the security of the US southern border.
Mr Johnson has repeatedly demanded a one-to-one meeting with the President to discuss the aid package.
09:36 AM GMT
Sweden to donate £542 million aid package to Ukraine
Sweden has announced it will donate 7.1 billion Swedish kronor (£542 million) worth of aid to Ukraine.
The package, announced by Sweden’s defence ministry, is the 15th round of aid the country has supplied, and its biggest to to date, taking its overall support since Russia’s full-scale invasion to around 30 billion kronor (£2.3 billion).
Pal Jonson, the country’s defence minister, told a press conference: “We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” .
The package includes around £153 million worth of artillery ammunition as well as anti-aircraft artillery and recoilless rifles, Sweden said. It also includes maritime assault vessels and other vessels, and underwater arms such as mines and underwater drones.
09:10 AM GMT
Russian spy chief brands murdered defector a ‘moral corpse’
Russia’s spy chief has called a murdered defector a “moral corpse”, Russian news agencies reported.
A Russian pilot, who defected to Ukraine and was found shot dead in a garage in Spain last week, was a “moral corpse” when he planned his crimes, Sergei Naryshkin, the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, reportedly said.
“In Russia it is customary to speak either good of the dead or nothing at all,” Mr Naryshkin is reported to have said. “This traitor and criminal became a moral corpse at the very moment when he planned his dirty and terrible crime.”
Maxim Kuzminov’s body was found on Feb 13 in the town of Villajoyosa, near Alicante in southern Spain. He had been shot multiple times.
The pilot landed in Ukraine with his Mil Mi-8 helicopter last August before defecting, and moving to Spain, where he lived with a Ukrainian passport under a different name, EFE news agency reported.
08:43 AM GMT
Two dead after Russian bombing attack
Russian attacks have left two dead in Sumy after a fire broke out in an apartment building, local officials said.
The 5am strike using artillery and aviation followed 252 strikes on the region yesterday, in which four people were injured, Ukraine’s military reported.
Elsewhere, Ukraine shot down all 23 Shahed attacked drones launched by Russia overnight, its air force announced.
The drones were fired from the Russian port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk, while two missiles were launched from Belgorod and Zaporizhzhia.
One of the downed drones caused a fire to break out at an industrial facility in Poltava, Ukrainian officials reported.
Filip Pronin, the region’s governor, said the attack led to a substantial blaze that required 85 firefighters to extinguish it. No casualties were reported.
08:21 AM GMT
Pictured: Zelensky visits wounded soldiers on the front line
08:11 AM GMT
Pictured: the US-Russian citizen arrested by Moscow
08:09 AM GMT
Russia accused of executing prisoners of war after Ukraine retreat
Russia has been accused of executing wounded Ukrainian soldiers following Kyiv’s retreat from Avdiivka.
In new evidence of possible war crimes, the relatives of six soldiers found dead following Russia’s takeover of the city said they were executed after surrendering, the BBC reported.
The Russian military pledged to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers from their base – called “Zenith”, on the south-eastern outskirts of Avdiivka – but instead shot them, the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Ukraine’s 110th Brigade.
Ivan Zhytnyk, Andriy Dubnytsky and Georgiy Pavlov have been identified by relatives as three of the dead soldiers, the BBC said.
Oleksandr Syrsky, the new Ukrainian army chief, ordered a retreat from the city in order to save soldiers’ lives.
Russia had bombarded Avdiivka since October last year and finally took the city this weekend after forcing Ukrainian reinforcements to withdraw, in what is being viewed as a symbolic victory ahead of the two-year anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
