Russian opposition issues warning to Kremlin

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian opposition leaders urged President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to stop clamping down on dissent and warned they would ask Western governments to freeze assets of Russian officials involved in a spiraling crackdown on the opposition.

Alexei Navalny and other opposition activists who were elected to the opposition’s Coordinating Council in a weekend online ballot accused the Kremlin of unleashing a campaign of “direct and forceful pressure against its opponents in rude violation of Russian and international law.”