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Russian police detain opposition leader, dozens of protesters
Police detained dozens of protesters across Russia on Sunday, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny, after thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against corruption and demand the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The protests, reckoned to be the biggest since a wave of anti-Kremlin demonstrations in 2011/2012, come a year before a presidential election which Vladimir Putin is expected to contest, running for what would be a fourth term. Opinion polls suggest the liberal opposition, which Navalny represents, have little chance of fielding a candidate capable of unseating Putin, who enjoys high ratings.
I’m happy that so many people came out (onto the streets) from the east (of the country) to Moscow.
Alexei Navalny
Other Reuters reporters at the Moscow rally saw at least 100 other detentions as a police helicopter circled overhead. The Kremlin said on Friday that plans for the central Moscow protest, which the city’s authorities had rejected, were an illegal provocation.
I’ve come out (to protest) against corruption and want the authorities to answer the accusations in the Navalny film.
Denis Korneev
