Navalny says he feels ‘pride and hope’ over protests against his detention

The comments marked some of Navalny’s first on the protests, which have ramped up in recent days and drawn increasingly harsh crackdowns from Russian police.

More than 1,900 people were arrested Wednesday in one of the largest roundups of protesters since demonstrations started against Navalny’s detention earlier this year, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors protests and detentions. 

Navalny was detained in January after he returned from Germany where he was recovering from being poisoned in August. The opposition leader has blamed Moscow for the incident, but the Kremlin has denied any involvement.

International concern over Navalny has grown as he wages a hunger strike in prison, with his doctor warning that he was nearing death. Authorities announced Monday that Navalny will be transferred to a hospital in another prison, three weeks after he started the hunger strike.