Kremlin: Thousands of arrests at protests necessary response

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin said Thursday that thousands of arrests at protests against the jailing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were a necessary response to the unsanctioned rallies and strongly rebuffed Western criticism. Asked about the harsh treatment of thousands of detainees, who spent many hours on police buses and were put in overcrowded cells, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that they have to bear responsibility for joining the