Russian police detain opposition supporters at pension reform protests

Thousands of supporters of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny protested across Russia on Sunday against planned increases to the pension age, with a rights group saying at least 153 of them had been detained by the police.

The protests were a challenge to the authorities, who were hoping for a high turnout at local elections on Sunday despite widespread anger over the pension move.

“The authorities are not listening to people and that means it’s time to take to the streets,” Navalny’s team said.

The proposed pension changes, which are going through parliament, have shaved about 15 percentage points off President Vladimir Putin’s popularity rating.

They are the most unpopular government measure since a 2005 move to scrap Soviet-era benefits, which led to nationwide pensioner protests.

Navalny, barred from state TV and prevented from running against Putin for president earlier in 2018, hopes to tap into public anger over the reform.

He had planned to lead a protest in Moscow on Sunday, but a court in August convicted him of breaking protest laws and jailed him for 30 days. Navalny said the move was designed to derail the protests, which took place in 80 towns and cities, including Moscow and St Petersburg.

OVD-Info, a rights group that monitors detentions, said 153 Navalny supporters had been detained by police on Sunday in 19 towns and cities, including some of Navalny’s closest aides.

In Moscow, where the authorities had rejected an application from Navalny’s supporters to protest, about 2,000 people gathered in Pushkin Square, the authorities and Reuters reporters estimated.

Some of them chanted “Russia will be free” and “Putin is a thief” as riot police looked on and ordered them to disperse or face prosecution.

“I have come here to protest against the pension reform. I have to live in this country and I want to have hope for the future and a good old age,” said 22year-old Nikolai Borodin.

The reforms envisage raising the retirement age for men to 65 from 60 and to 60 from 55 for women. Average life expectancy for men is 66 and for women 77.