Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
1,600 arrested in Russia during national anti-Putin protests
MOSCOW — Russians angered by the impending inauguration Monday of Vladimir Putin to a new six-year term as president protested Saturday in scores of cities across the country — and police responded by reportedly arresting nearly 1,600.
Among those arrested was protest organizer Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner who is Putin’s most prominent foe. Police seized Navalny by the arms and legs and carried the thrashing activist from Moscow’s Pushkin Square, where thousands were gathered for an unauthorized protest.
Police also used batons against protesters who chanted “Putin is a thief!” and “Russia will be free!”
Demonstrations under the slogan “He is not our czar” took place throughout the country, from Yakutsk in the far northeast to St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad on the fringes of Europe.
The protests demonstrated that Navalny’s opposition, although considered beleaguered by Russian officials and largely ignored by state-controlled television, has sizeable support in much of the country.
OVD-Info, an organization that monitors political repression, said late Saturday that 1,599 people had been detained at demonstrations in 26 Russian cities. It said 702 were arrested in Moscow alone, and another 232 in St. Petersburg.
Moscow police said about 300 people were detained in the capital, state news agencies said, and there was no official countrywide tally.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert criticized the actions of the Russian police.