Public rallies protest Putin

IN a challenge to President Vladimir Putin on his 65th birthday, protesters have rallied across Russia, heeding opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s call to pressure authorities into letting him enter the presidential race.

Police allowed demonstrators in Moscow on Saturday to rally near the Kremlin in an apparent desire to avoid marring Mr Putin’s birthday.

A bigger rally in St Petersburg, Mr Putin’s hometown, was disbanded by police. The rallies came as Navalny himself is serving a 20-day jail term for calling an earlier protest.