Ex-mayor Arrested on Charges of Discrediting Russian Army

Russian opposition figure and former mayor of Yekaterinburg Yevgeny Roizman attends an interview with AFP at his charity fund in the main Urals city of Yekaterinburg on July 15, 2022. (Alexei Vladykin/AFP)
Russian opposition figure and former mayor of Yekaterinburg Yevgeny Roizman attends an interview with AFP at his charity fund in the main Urals city of Yekaterinburg on July 15, 2022. (Alexei Vladykin/AFP)
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Ex-mayor Arrested on Charges of Discrediting Russian Army

Russian opposition figure and former mayor of Yekaterinburg Yevgeny Roizman attends an interview with AFP at his charity fund in the main Urals city of Yekaterinburg on July 15, 2022. (Alexei Vladykin/AFP)
Russian opposition figure and former mayor of Yekaterinburg Yevgeny Roizman attends an interview with AFP at his charity fund in the main Urals city of Yekaterinburg on July 15, 2022. (Alexei Vladykin/AFP)

The former mayor of Russia's fourth-largest city was arrested Wednesday on charges of discrediting the country's military, part of a crackdown on critics of Moscow's military action in Ukraine.

Police arrested Yevgeny Roizman, 59 who served as the mayor of Yekaterinburg in 2013-2018, following searches at his apartment and office, The Associated Press said.

Roizman told reporters he was charged under a new law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Russian courts fined Roizman earlier this year on similar charges.

Roizman, a sharp critic of the Kremlin, is one of the most visible and charismatic opposition figures in Russia. During his tenure as mayor, he enjoyed broad popularity in Yekaterniburg, a city of 1.5 million in the Ural Mountains.

While police escorted him from his apartment Wednesday, Roizman told reporters that he would likely be brought to Moscow for investigation.

Days after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russia's Kremlin-controlled parliament controlled approved legislation that outlawed disparaging the military and the spread of “false information” about what the Kremlin describes as a “special military operation” in the neighboring country.

Courts have given fines and prison sentences to individuals who have criticized the Russian action in Ukraine.



Blinken, in Brussels, Pledges to Shore up Ukraine Support Ahead of Trump Transition

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) shake hands at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) shake hands at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
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Blinken, in Brussels, Pledges to Shore up Ukraine Support Ahead of Trump Transition

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) shake hands at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) shake hands at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 13 November 2024. (EPA)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assured NATO on Wednesday that the Biden administration would bolster its support for Ukraine in the few months before Donald Trump's return as president and would try to strengthen the alliance in that time.

Meeting NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Brussels, Biden also said the deployment of North Korean troops to help Russia in the Ukraine war would get a "firm response".

President-elect Trump, who has questioned US military support for Ukraine, says he will quickly end Russia's war without saying how, raising concerns among U.S. allies he could try to force Kyiv to accept peace on Moscow's terms. Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.

Blinken said after meeting Rutte at the alliance’s headquarters they discussed ongoing support for Ukraine, where Russian forces have been making gains on the eastern front lines, and the work NATO must do strengthen its defense industrial base.

The outgoing US administration would "continue to shore up everything we're doing for Ukraine," he said.

"President Biden fully intends to drive through the tape and use every day to continue to do what we have done these last four years, which is strengthen this alliance," Blinken said.

The deployment of North Korean troops to support Russia in the conflict "demands and will get a firm response," he said.

Rutte said that "Russia has not won" in Ukraine, which it invaded in February 2022.

"Obviously we have to do more to make sure that Ukraine can stay in the fight and is able to roll back as much as possible the Russian onslaught and prevent (President Vladimir) Putin from being successful in Ukraine," he said.

Blinken is expected to meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha later, according to a State Department schedule.

He will also meet NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Christopher Cavoli, top EU officials and British foreign secretary David Lammy in Brussels on Wednesday.