Authorities detained Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and almost 1,000 of his supporters on Monday, as they mounted demonstrations across the nation against government corruption. Navalny's team planned demonstrations in more than 200 cities across the world's largest country, protesting what they say is President Vladimir Putin's system of widespread corruption.
In Moscow, thousands of angry protesters held an unsanctioned rally on Tverskaya, the capital's main street.
Other images from the day show thousands of demonstrators in St. Petersburg chanting slogans against Putin - and black-clad police marching through the crowd, making arrests and pulling people off of monuments.
Russian leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny reacts during a break in a hearing in the slander lawsuit filed against him by Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov, in a court in Moscow, Russia May 30, 2017.
For Tochenaya, joining the struggle for human rights is based on a simple motivation: "I want to put an end to injustice", she said.
Mr Navalny, who has vowed to stand in the 2018 Russian presidential election, possibly against Mr Putin if the incumbent decides to run for reelection, helped coordinate the demonstrations.
Teenager Anna Meigan said she was detained as she protested in Moscow.
Russia's opposition leader was arrested on Monday for organizing anti-corruption #Protests across the country.
More than 100 cities held rallies, including the major hubs of Moscow and St. Petersburg, where crowds were especially massive. The change in venue scattered protestors at first, but the BBC reports that 5,000 eventually gathered near central Moscow.
The report, however, seems to have struck a nerve among some Russians, particularly the young, who participated in unusually large numbers in March's and Monday's protests.
Police respond to Massachusetts mall for report of armed man
They saw a suspect with a gun and ammunition in the store but lost contact with him. The Saugus Police Department released this statement addressing the situation.
Organizers in more than 200 cities across Russian Federation had filed requests to hold demonstrations Monday, trying to revive a popular opposition that had been somnolent since a violent crackdown in 2011 and 2012. Russia's police frequently give lower estimates and the number could be higher.
Russian opposition leader is seen getting into a police vehicle as he was detained in front of his home on Monday.
Later, however, riot police and the national guard moved in, even on people sitting in nearby cafes, shouting "Go away!"
A day after the demonstrations, the Kremlin denounced as a "provocation" the protests, claiming that young demonstrators, who had taken to the streets to protest against corruption and demand the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, had been "promised financial rewards in the event of their detention by law enforcement agencies" during the protests.
His followers heeded. Thousands of mostly young people, took to Pushkin Square and Moscow's main thoroughfare, Tverskaya, where they chanted "Russia without Putin!" and "Putin is a thief!" Demonstrators managed to get into an area that was specifically banned to them, then the riot police showed up and tried to stop anyone else from joining the mass of protesters.
On the eve of the event - which was authorised - Navalny announced the protest was changing location to Tverskaya because authorities blocked his efforts set up a stage and sound equipment.
Navalny brought thousands onto the streets across Russian Federation in March, the largest such protests since a wave of anti-Kremlin demonstrations in 2012.
OVD-Info also said that hundreds of people were held in St Petersburg.
One of Russia's richest businessmen, whom Navalny accused of graft in the same video, won a defamation lawsuit against him last month.
Only a small minority of Russians express support for Navalny.
Comments