Putin Cites Death of Ashli Babbitt to Deflect from Treatment of Russian Prisoners

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday cited Ashli Babbitt’s death to deflect from a question about his treatment of political opponents.

Putin was responding to a question during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, from a reporter who asked whether the fact that many of his political opponents were “dead, in prison, or poisoned” sent a message that he didn’t want “a fair political fight.”

“On the question of who is murdering whom, people rioted and went into the Congress in the United States with political demands,” Putin replied, invoking the mob that entered the Capitol on Jan. 6. “Many people were declared criminals and they were threatened with imprisonment for 20 to 25 years. And these people were immediately arrested after those events. On what grounds, we don’t know.”

“One of the participants was just shot on the spot — and [she was] unarmed as well,” he added. “Many countries are going through exactly what we are going through.”

A Capitol security guard shot Babbitt as she broke the glass panels on a door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby in the Capitol, making the 35-year-old California native the only protester to die during January’s unrest. It is the second time Putin has invoked the incident in recent days.

“We sympathize with what was happening in the states, but we do not wish that to happen in Russia,” Putin said.

Watch above via CNN.