Russia’s Communists lead protests over ‘colossal’ vote fraud

Over a thousand Russians including prominent members of the Communist Party packed Saturday a central square in Moscow to protest what Kremlin critics call mass electoral fraud as police detained a number of activists.

Opponents of President Vladimir Putin have accused the authorities of fraud after results showed the deeply unpopular ruling United Russia party winning a sweeping majority in parliament at legislative polls this month.

The three-day vote took place following a historic crackdown on the opposition, with authorities imprisoning Putin’s most vocal critic Alexei Navalny and formally outlawing his organisations.

With nearly all vocal Kremlin critics barred from running, many Russians in Moscow and elsewhere backed the Communists as a form of protest voting. More than a thousand protesters packed Pushkin Square on Saturday as Communist figures decried what they called a stolen election.