NPR

'The Government Is Very Afraid': Meet Moscow's New Opposition Leader, Lyubov Sobol

Lyubov Sobol's tenacity in standing up to the authorities, combined with a savvy use of social media, has put her at the center of attention as a new protest leader.
Police officers detain opposition politician candidate Lyubov Sobol on her way to an unsanctioned rally demanding fair elections in downtown Moscow on Aug. 3.

Lyubov Sobol looks frail after ending a monthlong hunger strike. The unexpected protagonist of equally unexpected anti-government demonstrations in the Russian capital this summer, she speaks softly and chooses her words deliberately.

"My daughter is 5 years old," she says in an interview with NPR. "I want her to live in a country where human rights and freedoms are respected, where the courts are independent, and where there is a free press. I want her to live in this country. I don't want to move away."

This spring, the 31-year-old lawyer, a longtime ally of , decided to run for Moscow's city council. When the

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