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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Google withdrew a YouTube ad from Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny after authorities complained that the videos would violate a law on electoral silence before Sunday's regional governors vote, said Saturday a Navalny collaborator.
PHOTO FILE: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny attends a rally to protest the court's decision to block Telegram's messenger because he was violating Russian regulations, in Moscow on April 30, 2018. REUTERS / Tatyana Makeyeva / Photo File
In the video series on YouTube, Navalny invited the Russians to join protests on Sunday, while polls suggest that former President Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Sobyanin, would be easily reelected mayor of the capital city.
Navalny's aide, Leonid Volkov, said in a social media message that Google had removed the videos after the Central Election Commission sent a complaint letter to Google regarding the ad – a claim that Volkov called illegal .
Google's Russian office said in an e-mail comment: "We consider all justified appeals by state bodies. We also require advertisers to act in accordance with local law and our advertising policies. "
Navalny, who ran against Sobyanin in 2013 and had planned to protest the proposed pension changes on Sunday, will spend the day of the elections behind bars after being found guilty of violating the laws on the protest. His supporters have the intention to demonstrate across Russia.
While Sobyanin seems on track, public anger over planned nationwide retirement increases means that many voters can stay away, which would tarnish his victory, said political analysts.
Elections will also be held for governors of 25 others in Russia's 85 regions.
Reporting by Polina Devitt; Edited by Helen Popper
