Putin critic Alexei Navalny condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine, claiming that the strike was “planned by crazy old men” and that it will lead to the country’s downfall, according to Russian news outlet Media Zona.

The Kyiv Independent also covered the comments.

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Prosecutors argued that Navalny showed contempt of court during a libel case against veteran Ignat Artemenko last year during a court hearing at Moscow’s Lefortovsky District Court. He is also accused of fraud in connection with his efforts to raise donations for the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).

The prosecution had called 16 people to testify in court, four of whom were putative victims, three specialists, and nine witnesses. Fedor Gorozhanko, a former FBK employee who has dubbed the evidence against Navalny “absurd,” was among those called to testify.

During the hearing on March 15, Navalny expressed his thoughts on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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“It’s just a group of crazy crazy grandfathers,” he said. “They don’t feel sorry for anyone or anything. And last but not least, they do not feel sorry for our country. Their homeland is Swiss accounts. And no matter how much they twist patriotism, this is a myth. And that’s a huge threat to all of us. What to do, in fact, is clear. It is the duty of every person now to fight this war. Because it is said: peacemakers will be called sons of God.”

According to Navalny, the war’s repercussions will be “the collapse, the disintegration of our country.”

“It sounds wild, but the phrase ‘Russian-Ukrainian war also sounds wild.” I said in this room when the process began that everyone who thinks there will be a war is crazy,” he said.

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Prosecutors in Russia are seeking a 13-year prison sentence for Navalny, the president of the Progress Party and a long-time adversary of President Vladimir Putin. Navalny is facing fraud and contempt of court accusations, which have been widely denounced as fabricated allegations intended to muzzle him and restrict opposition against the Russian government.

Prosecutors requested for a 13-year prison term and a fine of 1.2 million rubles ($10,700) in final arguments on Tuesday.

Navalny is already in prison serving a 2.5-year sentence. He was imprisoned in February 2021 after returning to Russia from Germany after receiving emergency medical care for a suspected Novichok exposure in August 2020. Novichok is a nerve poison that has been used to assassinate Russian government critics. The Kremlin denied any participation in the poisoning, but Western governments, including the US and the UK, accused Vladimir Putin of authorising the attack.

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Farida Rustamova, a former BBC and TV Rain journalist, reported earlier this month, citing Kremlin insiders, that “the attitude toward the war within the corridors of power (in Moscow) is ambiguous.”

On March 1, the journalist said that several members of the Russian parliament were considering resigning in response to Putin’s plan to invade Ukraine, “Many of them are discouraged, frightened, and are making apocalyptic forecasts.”

Regarding the Russian President, Rustamova cited a Kremlin insider as stating, “He is in a state of being offended and insulted. It’s paranoia that has reached the point of absurdity.”