Alexei Navalny

The Kremlin critic looked gaunt after a weeks-long prison hunger strike. He appeared as the head of his political network said it was being forced to shut down amid government pressure.

The jailed opposition leader's political network has been ordered to suspend its activities pending a court ruling on whether to label it and affiliated organizations "extremist."

The fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin began refusing food on March 31 to demand medical care for leg and back pain.

Demonstrators demanded the release from prison of Kremlin-critic Alexei Navalny, who has been on a hunger strike for three weeks. The marches swept across dozens of cities.

The main Russian opposition figure, who has been on a 20-day hunger strike, has been moved to an infirmary at another prison, where he will undergo "vitamin therapy," authorities say.

Doctors traveled to the penal colony where Navalny is imprisoned and were arrested outside its gates. Navalny is on a hunger strike to protest a lack of medical care.

Amnesty International cites past comments by the anti-Kremlin activist that "reach the threshold of advocacy of hatred."

After weeks of protests and crackdowns, allies of the opposition figure Alexei Navalny urged Russians to hold up their phones outside for spans of 15 minutes.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview "We don't want to isolate ourselves from global life, but we have to be ready for that. If you want peace then prepare for war,"

NPR's Scott Simon remarks on the sentencing this week of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Putin critic was poisoned last year, recovered in Germany, then arrested for violating parole.

Russia's Foreign Ministry says it is expelling diplomats from Sweden, Poland and Germany, alleging they participated in illegal Jan. 23 protests.

President Biden's remarks Thursday come as Russia has detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the Myanmar military staged a coup.