Salisbury residents joined dozens of others from around the country at St Paul’s Cathedral in London as part of a worldwide protest against the continued incarceration of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Alexei was recently given an additional 19 years in prison for “extremism,” on top of the numerous charges for which he is currently serving time.

Alexei’s team organised simultaneous demonstrations on Sunday, August 20 in more than 30 countries with the aim of condemning the actions of Putin’s government and calling for Alexei’s release.

Those from Salisbury who joined the demonstration in London said both the 2018 Novichok incidents in Salisbury and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine have influenced their belief in the need to speak out.

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Former BBC producer Myfanwy Vickers said: “The war in Ukraine and Putin’s increasingly flagrant arrest and imprisonment of his opponents inspired me to participate in this event. Navalny is an incredibly courageous spokesman in support of human rights and against corruption in Russia. Savage attempts have been made on his life, just as they were made on a Putin critic here in Salisbury. Putin‘s reach extends even to our own market town.

“I have taken an interest in the politics and events taking place inside Russia since before the fall of the Iron Curtain. The efforts of Gorbachev and the collapse of the Berlin Wall were heralded by my generation as a beacon of light for the future. Navalny is a light shining in a new, very dark era.”

Alison Craig said: “When I first heard about Alexei Navalny and watched the excellent documentary about him, I was astounded by his eloquence, the clarity of his vision for Russia - and how funny and charming he is. 

"His breathtaking courage and loyalty to his own country in returning to it, knowing that he would be arrested, should be an inspiration to us all. As Nelson Mandela's did, Navalny's gravitas and moral authority seem to be growing by the day.”

Retired teacher of religious studies at Godolphin School and author Francis Spencer said: “Personally, I have a long-standing interest, and even a degree, in Russian affairs, but it hardly takes that to see the threat that Putin’s imperial ambitions pose to the world.

"Since his rise to power in 1999, Russia has been governed by the FSB (formerly KGB), an utterly amoral organisation that is the sworn enemy of our democratic values, the rule of law and the notion of truth itself. The UK has been a particularly soft target for their campaigns of financial and political corruption, and of systematic disinformation.

"The use of Novichok on the doorstep of Porton Down was a deliberate attempt to intimidate us. Whether we like it or not, we are in an existential struggle for the survival of our way of life.”